Child Prodigy Negi
by Kuromoki
Summary: Title is subject to change. An AU of Negima cause I felt that so much could've been expanded on. Still unsure of the direction I want this story to go in. Negi was labeled a prodigy in canon yet he seemed like a complete novice. Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

Sighing at another dead-end of trying to learn a new spell, 5-year-old Negi Springfield returned the book back to its shelf. Looking around once more he hoped to find any texts that would teach him something new to help him on his quest of becoming a _Magister Magi_. Sighing again, Negi trudged out of the library that he was in. Looking back, he was surprised that it had already been a year since the event that forced them to leave their old village and move to this one. Even now, he still occasionally had nightmares of the events that transpired that night.

Once outside he breathed in some fresh air that was unique to the village he currently lived in. After the events of that night, he and his sister had moved from their small home in the mountains to a village of magicians in Wales where he was currently studying magic. Ever since he was small he had always dreamed of meeting his father and when he did, he had already disappeared before he could ask the question of why he left him. The only words his father had given him before disappearing was "_Live on and be happy"_. Ever since then, he had made it his goal to find his father and the first step to that was becoming a _Magister Magi_. However that was very slow going since everything the academy taught, Negi already knew. Instructors of the academy had called him a prodigy and a genius due to his high learning curve, but Negi still thought it wasn't enough. What he already knew was nowhere near enough to help him find his father who had no doubt done even greater deeds when he was his age.

That had led to him trying to find new stuff to learn from the library of texts that the village had, but nothing he found would help him. Looking up at the darkening sky, Negi shook his head free of thoughts and headed towards home.

...

A week later and Negi found himself avidly reading another book, this time from the restricted section of his school's library. It seemed that the teachers had deemed these spells too dangerous for people to learn and put them in the restricted section, but that didn't stop Negi from reading over it avidly. In fact he would've stayed here all night if it wasn't for the fact that he had sneaked in and his companion was nagging him to hurry up or else they would get caught.

Anya who had been watching Negi pore over the book for 5 minutes was repeatedly whispering to Negi to hurry up since the next patrol would be arriving soon and if they didn't get moving now, they would be caught and most likely be expelled from the academy. She had somehow found herself accompanying Negi into the restricted of their school library in hopes of finding a cure for her mother, however after a couple of minutes, her nervousness got the best of her and she was now harrowing Negi to hurry up so they could leave.

Hearing footsteps that echoed outside of the library, both Negi and Anya froze. Acting quickly Negi turned off the lamp that he had been using to read the book and moved to quickly place the book back into its proper bookshelf. Mentally going over what he had just read, he was satisfied that he was able to commit everything to memory. Quickly moving back over to Anya he grabbed her hand and started dragging her back to the air vent they had used to get into the library in the first place. Getting Anya back into the vent was hard work since she seemed to have frozen up in fear but Negi managed. Once she was safely inside, he too followed suit and got in.

By now Anya had unfrozen and was just whispering to Negi in a hushed voice. "Quickly we have to get out of here."

"I know. Start moving, but do it quietly." As they both started moving back to the location where they had originally entered, Negi went over what he had remembered once more and made a note to test it out later on.

Once they were out, Negi walked Anya home which was right next to his own. Once he bid Anya goodnight, he entered his own home and saw that his cousin Nekane still wasn't home. That was to be expected he guessed. She was studying magic at a college and only came home when she extra time. When she didn't she slept in the dorms that the school had provided. While Negi didn't really mind that, he got lonely sometimes and even Anya couldn't get him out of his self-pity.

However, there were bright sides to that since he could sleep whenever he wanted and if Nekane wasn't home, then he could even stay out much later. Which was exactly what he did once he entered his home. He just exited through the backdoor, since he had no doubt that Anya was keeping an eye on his front door so that he wouldn't sneak out again.

Sadly for her Negi had learned the first 10 times he had been caught trying to stay out late. Which was why he was near the back hills of his village testing out the new spell he had read up on.

Taking out the wand that Anya had given him, he slowly started going over the spell chant and flicking his wand in a specific direction.

"Um...Vertatur... Tempestas... Veris...! Nobis... Protectionem ...Aerialem...! Flans... Paries... Venti... Vertentis...!"

Once he was confident with his chant he prepared to test it out, however he made sure to move behind the hill. The book had described the spell as a whirlwind and it would be best that no one knew he could perform such a spell considering it had to be in the restricted section for a reason.

_"Vertatur Tempestas Veris! Nobis Protectionem Aerialem! Flans Paries Venti Vertentis!(Blow forth, Wall of Churning Wind!)"_

Flicking his wand in the described motion while willing his magic to create a wall of wind around him. He was satisfied to see a whirlwind form around him as the book had described. Watching the wind whirl around him, Negi felt elated that he was now one step closer to becoming a _Magister Magi_ and in a way one step closer to his father.

Once the whirlwind had dissipated, he found that he was more tired than he had thought he would be. It seemed that the spell had taken up more energy than he had thought. Shaking his head to get rid of the sudden vertigo he had felt from the spell drain he prepared to go home now that he knew he could use the spell he had just learned. However as he was heading over the hills towards his home, he thought he heard a cry for help. Looking around, he heard another cry. Moving towards the source of the cry, he saw that it emitted from the tall grass on the other side of the hill. Moving closer, he was almost at the source considering he could hear the cry quite loudly.

What he saw when he arrived was not what he had expected. It seemed that a weasel of some sort had gotten trapped in a rabbit trap and was crying for help. Negi had no idea how to react at all because the weasel was _talking_ and last time he checked weasels _didn't_ talk. Moving closer, his shoe made a crunching sound as he stepped on the wire of the trap. Hearing the crunch the weasel seemed to freeze before slowly turning around.

When it saw Negi it seemed to start shivering and Negi immediately started going over to it. Quickly disarming the trap, the weasel was freed but it seemed to be paralyzed in fear. Wondering why it seemed to be frozen, Negi saw that its leg was bleeding.

_"Tui Gratia Jovis Gratia Sit Cura!(Cure)"_

With that the weasels leg seemed to have healed, but still it just remained frozen. Now Negi was confused, the weasel didn't seem have anything wrong yet it still stayed frozen.

"Um... Why aren't you running away, ?"

At this, the weasel gave a start and seemed to shake its head before looking back at Negi.

"Ah, thanks kid, I thought you were a hunter that was out to get me. Also I'm not a weasel! I'm an ermine! Don't compare me to those classless creatures!"

Negi didn't know what to say, the fact that the weasel talked and thought he was a hunter or the part where he called weasels classless creatures. Shaking his head Negi looked over the ermine. Now that he thought about it, weren't weasels brownish in color? The ermine had white fur and that should've tipped him off that it wasn't a weasel however a new question came to mind.

"Aren't ermines suppose to live in colder climates? What are you doing so far away from home?"

The ermine seemed to made an enlightned expression before saying. "Ahh! Thanks kid, I almost forgot what I was doing here. As for why I'm here, I'm meeting a client of mine and I got caught in this trap on my way. Thanks for reminding me! As my way of thanks, I'll come find you later to pay you back, mind giving me your name kid?"

Negi frowned. While he didn't mean to insult the ermine, what did he mean by pay him back? Mentally shrugging he told him. "It's Negi Springfield ."

The ermine seemed to freeze when he heard his name but it shook its head. "I see, well my name is Albert Chamomille, but you can call me Chamo for short. Now I better be off or else I'll be late. Later kid, I'll be sure to pay you back!"

With that the ermine seemed to jump back into the grass and disappeared from sight.

Negi just shook his head and resumed his course back home.

...

It was a week later that Negi found himself inside the restricted section of his school library again. This time he made sure to bring a notebook of his own so that he could copy down spells that he found inside the books that he read. He had already wrote down the incantation for "White Lightning" and its variant "Throwing Spears of Lightning" along with "Flowering Wind Ward Barrier" and "Blow Forth, Dancing Dust". He was already itching to try them out, but he decided that using them now wouldn't be on the subtle side. A whirlwind could be written off, a flash of thunder could also be written off, but javelins made of lightning would be much harder to explain. So for now he would just keep the incantations in mind until he found a decent place to try them out.

Hearing the hourly patrol, Negi gathered up his stuff and made for the vent. Once he was outside again, he quickly made his way home. Looking at the windows of the house next door, he was relieved to see that Anya had most likely already gone to sleep. He really didn't need to be nagged about staying out late again.

Entering his home he headed up towards his room near the back of the house. However when he saw that his rooms light was on he was surprised and wary. The only ones that entered his room without permission was Nekane and Anya, and if it was either one of them, then there shoes would at least be at the front door. Quietly opening his room door, he peered inside only to see no one there. Fully opening the door, he entered and was shocked when he hear a voice.

"Yo kid, I'm here to pay you back for helping me out." Looking at the ermine that was waving from his bed, he was shocked that it had actually come back when all he did was get it out of a trap and healed its injured leg.

"Well... not to sound insulting but what can you do to "pay me back" as you say it? You're an ermine and I don't think you can do anything to pay me back either."

At this the ermine seemed to bristle but then he seemed to calm down.

"Well I ain't no normal ermine. I'm an ermine elf! That classes me as a fae!"

Negi's jaw dropped. Fae were creatures that had existed since ancient times long before humans had come into existence. That meant that they knew secrets of the world that people in this day and age would die for and for him to meet one even if it was an ermine was pretty damn rare.

Bowing his head in apology. "I apologize if I came off as insulting before. "

The ermine just shook off his apology. "Don't worry about the respect thing kid, I don't like it and just call me Chamo like I introduced."

"I see... thank you for allowing me to use your nickname, Chamo. However not to sound rude, but how will you "pay me back" as you put it?"

Chamo looked thoughtful at this. "Ya know kid, I'm not sure myself. How bout I teach you how to make magic circles?"

Negi tilted his head at this. Magic circles? Weren't they only for the fabled Pactio ritual? "Aren't magic circles only used in the Pactio ritual?"

Chamo tilted his head at the question. "Uhh.. no? Although the Pactio ritual is made up of various magic circles."

"Ehhh?" Negi let out. This was the first time he had anything like that. None of the books he had read from the school library had said anything about that at all.

"Yep, that's right. Magic circles are a combination of western magic and eastern magic put together. That's makes it one of the hardest magics to learn. So interested kid?"

"Of course! It sounds so cool! That must mean you're very good at it right, Chamo?" Negi had a look in his eye's that resembled that of a kid in a candy store.

"Heh, of course kid. I'm just that awesome. Now get ready kid, your world is about to learn magic that's almost a lost art!"

Negi gained a determined look."Yes!"

...

It had been two months since Negi had started about magic circles under Chamo and he had learned more about magic circles than he did about magic from the academy. There were so many things new things he learned, like how magic circles were originally specific to the eastern part of the world, but instead of using magic circles they used seals that were tailored for a specific purposes. However sometime in the past a magi had decided to mix the western runes with the eastern seals and from there, magic circles were born. It was truly a hybrid of western and eastern magic.

However over time, Negi had gotten used to the _bad_ habit that Chamo seemed to have. Mainly him being a pervert and part-time black market dealer. While he didn't mind him being a pervert, he had written it off as part of his fae blood to be mischievous. What he couldn't comprehend was how an ermine elf could use a laptop that he had pulled from somewhere and start going over the deals he was getting from fellow black market dealers.

At first he had been shocked that Chamo was doing something illegal. However that soon changed when Chamo told him that he wasn't exactly doing anything illegal. He was just selling stuff in the black market because it brought in more cash and didn't require a positive ID in order to use.

Negi out of curiosity had asked what he sold and how much he made. The answer he got boggled his poor mind. How was a normal pactio circle worth over 500 drachama on the black market? Shouldn't people have been able to craft their own?

At first he thought of it as a joke, but when Chamo disappeared for a week and returned after another week 500 drachama richer, Negi fainted. When he woke up, he quickly got on his knees and begged Chamo to teach him. With that kind of money from just a normal pactio circle, he would be able to afford so many artifacts that he had his eye on since he read about them.

Chamo had been reluctant at first since that would involve danger as anyone who entered the black market business was bound to make enemies. Negi had grown on him over the month that he had started teaching him and he didn't want to be the one responsible for putting him in danger. But after a week of being begged by Negi he gave in and slowly taught him the basics. Since Negi couldn't go anywhere far by himself, Chamo would act as the intermediary and he would get a portion of the money.

Negi had been all too glad to agree, he didn't really care about anything like that. All he cared about was getting enough for the artifacts. That was how Negi slowly started entering the black market business with Chamo as a guide.

That wasn't all though. Now that Chamo had a positive ID, he could now access the public which had information on anything you could name that people knew about. With access to such a public information board, Negi no longer needed to sneak into the restricted section of his academy library. Though Negi made sure to keep his discovery a secret especially considering that he was going into the grey-area with what he was planning to do.

Now he didn't need to graduate to find his father. He could just amass a large amount of money and from there purchase information regarding his father. With a new plan set, Negi delved into the world that he still knew so little about.

* * *

**AN: A new attempt at a story from other stories I had read. You'll most likely see references that seem similar to other stories on this site and that's to be expected since I borrowed them for my own. That is all.**

******Edit: Fixed some mistakes and changing around Chamo's speech, giving him slang speech didn't fit right for me. Feb 11,2012**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hurry up Negi! Any longer and you'll be late!" Someone called up the stairs.

"Ahhh... I know Nekane!" Quickly descending the stairs, Negi came down wearing his graduation robes. He was pumped, today was the day he would be graduating from the magic academy and starting his journeyman assignment towards becoming a _Magister Magi_. He didn't think this day would come for another 2 years, but since he already knew so much of the academies curriculum that he was allowed to graduate two years early. Here he was 8-years old well on his way to the goal he had set for himself.

"Really... Negi you would think that since today is your graduation day you would be excited, instead I find that you overslept. Is that really the attitude of someone who's aiming for _Magister Magi_?" Anya who had been waiting by the door admonished Negi's attitude.

"Ahh sorry sorry, I was so excited last night that I couldn't fall asleep." Negi awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh just because you graduated two years early, don't think I'll be far behind, I'll catch up to you soon enough." Anya challenged with a smirk on her face.

Negi returned the look. "I look forward to it"

"Hu hu, you both look so cute arguing like that." Nekane giggled into her hand.

At this both Negi and Anya's head whipped towards Nekane before shouting at her. "I'm not cute!"/"We aren't arguing!"

"Yes yes, lets move along now, any longer and we'll really be late." Nekane placated.

"Ahh! That's right, come on let's go!" With that Anya started dragging Negi towards the academy.

Nekane just giggled into her hand again while following behind the duo.

...

"We welcome this new generation of aspiring _Magister Magi_! We hope that as time goes on your resolve will not weaken! From here your real training begins!"

As the headmaster continued his speech to the graduates Negi was spacing off wondering just what his journeyman assignment would be. He hoped it would be something cool like going on adventures all around the world or something along those lines. Soon enough he heard his name called to receive his diploma.

"Yes!" With that he walked towards the principal to receive his diploma.

...

"Well, what's your assignment going to be?" Both Nekane and Anya were curious.

"Not sure, but it'll show up soon" As soon as he said that, words slowly started to form on the once blank diploma. Eventually it formed his assignment.

"Eh?" Three voices let out once they read the assignment.

On the diploma the assignment was "_Wanderer of Mundus Magicus"_

...

"Principal! Principal!" Nekane called out as both her and Anya rushed towards him with Negi a bit behind them.

"Hm? Ah yes Nekane, What is the problem?"

"The problem? THE PROBLEM IS THAT NEGI IS TASKED WITH BEING A WANDERER OF MUNDUS MAGICUS! HE'S ONLY 8-YEARS-OLD! THERE HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF MISTAKE!" By now Nekane was approaching hysteria.

"Yea, that's right Negi can barely take care of himself, and you're telling me that he's tasked with wandering around Mundus Magicus? There's got to be a mistake of some kind with the diploma." Anya piped in.

"I'm afraid not, the diploma has magic inside it that reacts to the owners wishes and points the direction of their goals for him. That means that Negi's goals would be one step closer to being achieved if he followed the assignment given by the diploma. In a way it could be considered a guide line to help the Magi's along." the principal explained.

At this both Nekane and Anya quieted down. Negi who had been silent since finding out his assignment asked the question on his mind. "So if I were to complete this assignment I would be one step closer to becoming a _Magister Magi_?"

"Uhm, yes you will, like I said before the diploma has a special magic on it that will point its owner towards their goal. It can be subject to change at any time, so it would be best to check it every now and then to see if anything has changed. It's akin to planner, in which it tells you the best way to achieve your goal. Of course you can also ignore it and try to find a different way to reach your goal as well. Like I said, it's more of a guideline to help people along. It's not set in stone after all."

Negi who had stayed quiet during the principals explanation was now quietly contemplating what he had just heard. Eventually he turned to face Nekane and Anya. "I've decided. I will wander Mundus Magicus and look for information regarding my father. This is a start for me and I'll be sure to be careful, okay?"

Nekane hearing his decision just sighed with a hand on her face and muttered something like "like father like son."

Anya was much more subdued in her expression, she just shrugged her shoulders while shaking her head.

"What? Don't worry I'll send letters back to you at least once a month!"

"Ho ho, it pleases an old man to see the new generation so optimistic about the future. But remember this Negi, that the world is vast and there are things that even we still do not comprehend. So make sure you're careful in Mundus Magicus." The principal added.

"Right! Thanks for the advice!" With that Negi dashed off. No doubt to prepare for his journey into the heart of the magical world.

"Ho ho, no thanks for allowing an old man like me to teach the future generation." With that he too left where they held there impromptu conversation. Leaving Nekane and Anya to their own devices.

"Really now. Are all boys like this?" Anya complained.

Nekane just shook her head. "Well I guess it is their nature to be like that. I remember Nagi being the same."

At this, they both sighed in unison before heading after Negi.

...

Once Negi had gotten home, he had immediately started packing away his stuff. He had heard stories of the magical world from Chamo who sometimes conducted business in Mundus Magicus and from what he had heard. Magical Beasts roamed the land making it dangerous to travel alone and he was expected to be a wanderer? Crazy was what he first thought, but then he heard how it would bring him one step closer to finding his father and that was all the motivation Negi needed to make his decision.

Here he was slowly packing away all of his artifacts so that he could bring them along. Along with a few changes of clothes. If there was one thing that he learned over the years, it was that his magic was not bottomless. He had experienced first hand how magical exhaustion could be. It was when he tried chaining _Jaculatio Fulgoris _in quick succession. It took him only three tries before he ended up exhausting himself to the brink of collapsing.

After that he realized why the spell was in the restricted section of academy library. If he who was praised to have great stores of magic energy was exhausted in only three tries, then just how much was actually needed for a normal person to use the spell? Their entire magic stores and more? He was scared to find out that day since he wasn't sure what happened to people who tried casting spells that took up more magic than they had. Would their magic overload and cripple them? Or would the spell fail because it didn't have enough magic to fuel itself? Either way he hoped to not find out.

As he was packing, he realized that he would have to send a message to Chamo saying that he would be in Mundus Magicus when he came back from his job. Going over to the laptop he had bought with some of the shady money from his side deals, he quickly logged onto his account and message Chamo, telling him the details of what happened and where he would be when Chamo was done with his job.

With that done, he quickly browsed through looking for information regarding Mundus Magicus. While he heard stories of it, he never actively searched the information board for information regarding it since he didn't really need to worry about it considering he lived in the Old World. Now though, he was very interested in researching it since it would be where he would begin his journey to becoming a _Magister Magi_.

However he was interrupted by Nekane and Anya coming into his room both looking worried. Seeing their faces Negi inwardly sighed. Plastering a smile on his face he turned towards them. "Dont worry about it Nekane, Anya I'll be fine by myself. In fact I'm thinking of asking Chamo to act as my guide in Mundus Magicus.

At this both Nekane and Anya let out an audible sigh of relief. Both knew that despite Chamo's _bad _habits, he would definitely watch over Negi.

With both their worries put to rest for now, Nekane left the room to prepare lunch while Anya stayed behind and watched as Negi continued browsing through . While both Nekane and Anya knew of Negi accessing the they were still baffled by how he had gotten enough money to actually buy a laptop that came with an electronic spirit. Whenever they asked Negi, he would get evasive and say that Chamo helped him gather the money as time went on when he helped him out.

While it wasn't the complete truth it was close enough that they stopped asking after awhile.

"You know, I'm amazed that you aren't nervous at all at heading into Mundus Magicus alone at age 8."

Negi who had been keeping an eye on his laptop while listening to Anya paused at this. "... it's not that I'm not nervous. In fact right now I'm feeling very anxious at going to such a place. But if it helps me reach my goal that much sooner, then I'll go in with no regrets."

Anya didn't know what to say in response so she settled for sulking to herself. "... Just make sure you be careful." Saying that she quickly left Negi's room.

Negi had frozen after Anya said that, but soon enough he shook his head and resumed looking up information regarding Mundus Magicus with a small smile on his face.

...

It had been a month since Negi had received his journeyman assignment and he was finally going to set out. The reason for why he had delayed leaving was because he was waiting for Chamo to complete his job before asking him to act as a guide in Mundus Magicus. When Chamo had returned and found out about Negi's assignment he had been all too glad to help. Mostly because most of the better deals were in Mundus Magicus and earning money their was much easier than in the Old World.

Luckily Chamo knew where the gate was and now they were just waiting among a crowd of other magi waiting for it open. Though he did look like he had way roo much baggage compared to the other magi.

"Yo bro, you remember those lessons on containment seals I gave you right?" Chamo spoke up from his perch on his shoulder.

"Yea, I remember. Why?"

"Well I just remembered that customs at the gate port forbids you from having weapons on hand. So it's best that you store everything in one of those seals or else you'll be fined quite a lot considering you packed enough for almost a platoon."

"Ehhh? Then I better hurry up." Moving away from the other groups of magi, Negi quickly put his bag on the ground and started rummaging around for a case where he could start inscribing seals. Soon enough he grabbed a case containing one of his antique guns. Removing the gun, he brought out his staff and slowly started inscribing the box with his magic. Once he was done, he quickly started moving all of his stuff into the seal, once he was out of customs he would unseal and repack everything again.

"Hurry up Bro, the gates going to open soon." Chamo urged from his perch watching the gate.

"I know, just got to seal the rest of these and I'm good to go... there I'm done. Lets go."

"Just on time, the gates going to go up in a minute so hurry up and get into one of the circles. Make sure you have the cloak on since its a tracker to make sure you arrive at the gate port." Chamo explained.

"Right got it." As soon as he said that, Negi heard a voice calling out towards the group of magis.

"Hello everybody! I will be your host for this afternoon, you may call me McGuiness and I will be your guide to Mundus Magicus today!"

"Huh would you look at that, there is a guide." Negi was surprised that there would be a guide at the entrance of the gate instead of in the village bringing people in.

"Pft, it's only a guide, you got me! I know my way around the entire Mundus Magicus! I doubt she knows as much as me!" Chamo puffed out.

"Isn't it because you have to travel all over the place for your "job"?"

"Of course, but don't tell me you don't appreciate it. Especially considering my "job" is how you got a lot of the stuff you have."

Negi just laughed at this. "Hahaha, I guess that's true and for that I'm grateful."

Chamo looked up from his conversation "Kid, get ready, the gates about to open."

That was all Negi needed to hear before he started looking around waiting for the gate to open. Soon enough he heard McGuiness call out, "Everyone the gate is about to open, please make sure you keep a firm hold on all your belongings and stay inside the designated circles!"

Negi made sure he was inside a circle and keeping a firm grasp on his bag. Soon enough he felt something tingling his sense from above. Quickly turning his head skyward, he was greeted to the sight of at most a dozen magic circles above them each lined up to form a tower of sorts.

"Bro, the transfer process is starting!" Chamo called form his shoulder, but to Negi's sense it sounded muffled, there was a bright flash of light which caused Negi to shield his eyes and when he moved his arm away, he was greeted to the sight of a stone ceiling.

"Welcome to Megalomesembria Gate-port bro." Chamo stated from his perch.

"Uwahhh! It's so cool!" Negi was acting like a regular kid his age, namely looking at everything around him with wide-eyes.

"Will magis please head towards the custom officers so that they can have their luggage checked out! Please enjoy your stay in Mundus Magicus!" McGuiness called out before leading the people towards the custom officers.

Negi quickly started following her along with the other magi. Once it was his turn to get his stuff checked out, the officer took one look at his passport before doing a double take. She took one look at Negi and then back to his passport before slowly asking, "Do you have any relation to Nagi Springfield?"

"Uhh, he's my father?" the moment he said that, he was picked up by the officer who was squealing "Oh my gosh! Your father inspired me to get to my position today! I didn't think I would get to meet his son!" Soon enough a crowd had formed and people were asking to shake his hand while the female portion kept trying to hug him.

Soon enough security had arrived to see what was the hold up and they forced the crowds to disperse. Once the crowd was gone Negi was able to let out a sigh of relief while Chamo was in heaven. Not surprising considering he was still perched on Negi's shoulder when the females starting hugging him.

The custom's officer had gone back to her desk and was apologizing to Negi for causing a scene. Soon enough he was allowed past customs and he saw the first view of Mundus Magicus.

"Uwahhh! Look look Chamo its a flying whale! there's even warships floating around!" Negi kept pointing at various things he could see from his view at the cutoms exit. Chamo who had finally returned from his daydreams looked out as well.

"Heh, of course bro, this is one of the major ports in the entire Mundus Magicus, its to be expected that such sights are common. But we really have to do something about your name, if this is how people react to hearing it, then'll we'll be hounded everywhere we go."

"Ehhhh? But what should we do then?"

"Isn't it obvious? We'll invent an alias you can go under so that you don't have to use your real name!"

"But but what should it be? I don't really have any idea of what kind of alias I want to use!"

"Hmm.. How about Spring Onion?"

"No! And why spring onion!"

"Well it's your name in Japanese so why not?"

"Just no!"

"Fine, how bout Neal Spch?"

"Uhhh no, what does that even mean?"

"Doesn't mean anything just the first two letters of our names put together."

"Oh, still no."

"Then what about Vernum Cepa?"

"NO! and what's with your fascination of translating my name into an onion?"

"Fine, how about Tensai Negi?"

"Uhh...whats that mean?"

"Tensai means genius and obviously your name becomes your last name instead."

"Huh, sounds nice, I'll take it, where'd you get the word tensai anyway?"

"Japan of course!"

"You and your fascination for the Japanese..."

"Of course! It's the holy land of perverts!"

"..."

"Well anyway, let's go 'Tensai'. You got the whole world to wander!"

"Uhm!"

With that both Negi and Chamo walked out of the gate port into Mundus Magicus.

* * *

**AN: Still deciding whether or not I should jump straight to canon and from their slowly diverge or start diverging now by writing about Negi's adventures into Magicus Mundus because I felt so much could've been expanded upon in the manga about it, but it had to end prematurely. I'll see how soon I can update again, College is piling up the homework and it's been keeping me busy and killing my urge to write. Laters.**

**Edit: Fixed some mistakes and changing around Chamo's speech, giving him slang speech didn't fit right for me. Feb 11,2012**


	3. Chapter 3

"Hah...hah...hah...hah..." The sound of deep breathing could be heard from Negi as he ran from through the tunnel, his staff in hand waiting to be used.

"Come on bro, we're almost at the exit, just a little bit more!" Chamo who was on Negi's shoulder cried out.

"Hah.. I know.. now quiet, lemme concentrate on running!" As he said that, loud crashing sounds could be heard from behind him.

Chamo who was looking behind Negi couldn't help but comment. "Damn... who knew that removing the ring would cause the entire structure to collapse... must be the real deal for such measures to be taken, right bro?"

"Hah...hah...trying...to...hah...stay...alive! hah...now...shut..up...!"

"So cruel bro, I'm trying to take your mind off the crazy collapsing ceilings that are falling onto us and here you are telling me to shut up?" Chamo mocked from Negi's shoulder.

Negi just gnashed his teeth and continued running.

"Yo bro..."

"WHAT!"

"Uh... well we seem to be out of the null zone, so how bout you start flying instead?"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT SOONER! _VOLATIO! MAXIMA ACCELERATIO!(FLY! MAXIMUM ACCELERATE!)_" With that Negi quickly hopped onto his staff and accelerated towards the exit. As he flew towards the exit Negi let out a breath of relief.

"Well that was a crazy adventure, don't you think bro?"

"Huuuu... you can say that again, but it's going to be out last adventure for a while now."

"Yea... can't believe we're finally going back to the Old World. This place has grown on me."

"Well I'm sure we'll come back some other time, but I think it's about time I got some vacation time in don't you think?"

"...Bro you've been on vacation every week... and you want more time?"

"Haha I guess that's true."

"Look there's the exit!~" At this Chamo pointed the white light that was quickly nearing.

"Really..? Well would you look at that it is!" A loud crash was heard behind them and both Negi and Chamo looked back to see what it was.

What they saw caused their jaws to drop. A damn Earth dragon had emerged out of the tunnel and was now speeding towards them with it's maw wide open as if it was going to devour them. Chamo regained his wits first.

"Quickly Bro! Go faster!"

Negi quickly shook his head and tried urging his staff on. It didn't work. "We're already moving at max speed!"

"WHAT! IF WE DON'T HURRY UP WE'LL BE DEVOURED! AND THE EXIT IS RIGHT THERE!"

"Kuh! Can't be helped then." Channeling magic into one of the rings on his hand, a card appeared. _Adeat!_

From his outstretched hand a gun appeared. "_Magia Globus. Oneratis. Penetratiuam Ventus Sagittarunt! (Magic Bullet. Load. Piercing Wind Shot!)"_

Quickly charging the gun with magic, Negi waited until he deemed it enough and fired. The recoil caused him to lose control of his speed for a moment but it was nothing compared to what happened to the Earth Dragon that was in back of them. The creature got blown to smithereens from the shock wave that followed the bullets wake. Of course, everything behind it was decimated as well hastening the collapse of the tunnel. _Abeat!_

"...Bro... that was complete overkill..." Chamo stated from his shoulder.

Negi just grunted as he tried to avoid using his right hand. It was burned pretty badly from the recoil. "Overkill is underrated, you never know if something comes to bite you in the ass later if you don't make sure its killed."

"Still... earth dragons are pretty rare, don't you think it was cruel to blow it into nothingness?"

"... that wasn't an earth dragon... it resembled one but it wasn't."

"What? Why do you say that?"

"When I looked inside it's maw I saw a core of some kind. No doubt it was guarding the ring and when we removed it, it activated and tried to stop us from leaving with it."

"So it was a guardian golem?"

"Yep."

"... YOU IDIOT! YOU DESTROYED SOMETHING THAT COULD'VE MADE US A LOT OF MONEY! YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO CONSTRUCT GUARDIAN GOLEM CORES NOW ESPECIALLY SINCE THAT THE KNOWLEDGE IS LOST!? IF WE COULD RE-ENGINEER IT WE'D BE RICH!"

Negi just cringed as Chamo screamed next to him for destroying a priceless antique from before the Great War.

"Why are you so mad, I'm pretty sure all the books we found in these ruins will bound to have the method to make a core."

"Grr... it's the principle of the matter bro, with that core we could just work backwards instead of making one from scratch and testing it."

"Whatever we're finally out." With that they both flew out into the skies from the exit of the ruins they were in. Once outside, Chamo looked behind them one more time and couldn't help but let out a whistle.

"Damn bro, can't help but admire how much destruction you cause every time you use that artifact."

"That's not something to be proud of, but yea I can't help but agree as well." As he said that he looked at the ring that stored his Pactio card. Just remembering it brought a smile to his face.

"You know... once we're back in the Old World, I'm thinking of not using it except for desperate situations."

"What!? You crazy bro? That's what classes you as an army killer you know!"

"Yea I know, but if I use it out in the open, then there is bound to be alot of property damage and in the Old World, I'm pretty sure people will notice if an explosion just happened out of nowhere."

Chamo got silent at this but couldn't help but agree.

"Well I guess I'll just have to buy a gun and start upgrading it no?"

"Heh of course bro, you going to make a replica or what?"

"Nah I was actually thinking of getting a Thompson Contender. Single Shot action, but extremely powerful. With the right seals,runes and circles then I could probably make it close to my Pactio."

"Well sure bro, but we better head back to Megalomesembria. Heard that Anya's graduation ceremony is coming up and you promised that you would show up."

"I know. Better make sure to get her a present... any idea what to get?"

"Heh, you finally bowing to my prowess as a ladies man?"

"You're an ermine."

"Shush bro... how bout a high level fire-spell, would definitely suit a spit-fire like her."

"Hummm... I guess that's a good present as any."

"Psh, why are you concerned, you have like a library full of spells don't you. What's wrong with parting with one?"

"Well, it's not that I'm concerned, it's more like I'm not sure which one to give her, especially considering I haven't seen her in a long time."

"What? You haven't met for two years and you think she'll have changed?"

"Uhh, I'm pretty sure it's been more then 2 years."

"It's a technicality, you haven't even been gone for 2 years yet, so just go with your gut instinct."

"... the last time I went with my gut instinct I nearly caused an international accident..."

Chamo lost himself in his memories. "Ahh... now that was fun, who knew that so many high profile people would be at a hot spring."

Negi shuddered while muttering _'women are scary, women are scary'_ over and over again. He then glared at Chamo. "The only reason you say that is because they thought you looked cute!"

"Pft, don't be jealous at my skills bro."

" You. Are. An. Ermine!"

"And that has anything to do with it why?"

"...GRAH!" Negi desperately wanted to bash his head into something hard.

Chamo who was smirking just urged Negi onward. "Come on bro, lets get out of this place and you can head on home."

"Huh? What about you Chamo?"

"Well I got some business to conclude before I head back to the Old World, so head on ahead of me and I'll catch up. Besides I'm sure you know how to contact me?"

"Of course."

"Then lets go!"

"_Accelet!(Accelerate)!"_

...

Abruptly appearing above the skies near Megalomesembria, Negi quickly descended to the ground. Once he was he quickly took off his travel pack and started rifling through for a potion that healed burns.

"Man I can never get used to your gate spell, it always leaves me disorientated." Chamo said from his perch on Negi's shoulder.

"Well it's the only one I can use without frying you so you can be grateful for that at least." Chamo shuddered at this.

"Still bro, you sure about not using your pactio? Without it, you're extremely vulnerable to close-combat."

"Don't worry about it, I'm not that bad at close combat that it would require me to resort to using my pactio."

"..Right, says that person who lost to a cat half your size." Chamo said in a deadpan voice.

At this Negi became flustered. "It was an accident!, it doesn't mean anything!"

"Right... I'm going to guess you invoked so many reinforcement spells just for show?"

At this Negi couldn't reply at all. "W-Well I'll get better over time!"

Chamo just shrugged. "What ever bro, lets just get back to base before we unwind for the day, this week will probably be your last week here for a while so buy some souvenirs or something."

Negi nodded. "Uhm, a few days of relaxing before returning to the Old World huh. Sounds fine with me."

"Great! Heard that the finals for the 19th Anniversary of End of the Great War Springfield tournament is airing tomorrow. Wanna watch it?"

"Heh? Tomorrow? Where and what time?"

"Anywhere of course, it's a legendary tournament where the best of the magical world gathers to duke it out. Heh who knows, you may learn something from them."

"Ehhh.. I guess we can, but lets go order up the stuff we found first."

"Got it bro"

...

"Man bro, what a haul huh." Chamo stated from his perch on the table.

"Yea, it's going to take quite a while to order all of this into our library." Negi agreed from where he was sitting.

Both were sitting in front of a couple hundred bookcases that they had "liberated" from the ruins. Of course the treasure was all traded in for drachama while they kept the artifacts.

"So what about the main attraction that we were after?"

Negi retrieved the ring from where he had stored it before the traps from the ruins had activated. "Well legends say that this ring is capable of canceling out magic in a large area but from the engravings left on this ring. It doesn't really cancel the magic. Instead it just absorbs the ambient magic until there is nothing left to absorb and that's how the legend of it being able to cancel magic stemmed from." Flipping the ring into the air, Negi gained a thoughtful look as he watched it made revolutions over itself.

"Meh, it's still a priceless antique, something that can absorb enough magic in a 10 km diameter is nothing to laugh at. Though is it safe? Won't it absorb all the magic in the air now that we moved it?" Chamo looked worried as the ring fell back onto Negi's outstretched hand.

"Don't worry about it, it seems that after I removed it, it stopped absorbing the ambient magic because there was an active source of magic it could leech off of." Flipping the ring up again, Negi continued the motion as he talked with Chamo.

"You going to be okay bro?"

"Of course, I control this place, I just need to set it to continually generate ambient magic energy and this ring will be harmless. Though why a ring like this exists still doesn't make sense to me. What's the point?" At this Negi gained an introspective look.

"What ever bro, just get all this sorted and lets get out and enjoy your last week in Mundus Magicus."

"Hm."

...

"Well bro, what did you think of the tournament?"

"... I'm not sure what to feel... the fact that there are so many strong people out there or the fact that the runner-up's real name is actually Chiko Tan."

"Heh, now that was a funny name, and he called himself Alexander Zaytsev. Guess he wanted to escape his childhood name?"

"Well I'm sure if we're lucky we'll meet him some time in the future. Now come on, I'll be heading back the day after tomorrow. Gatta bring some souvenirs back for Nekane and Anya."

...

"Well this is it bro, you're heading back to the Old World after almost 2 years. How's it feel?"

"...Feels like I've been gone for longer..."

Chamo did a face palm. "Of course! You've been in that thing for how long, how often!? Of course it's going to feel longer!"

"Haha, this is exactly why I say it all the time. To see you do that."

"Grrr. Whatever bro, just hurry up and go, I'll catch up once I'm done conducting my business in Mundus Magicus. Send me a message if you need advice. Got it?"

"Yes yes I know, don't have to keep reminding me you know."

"If I don't you'll probably end up killing yourself from not watching your health. I swear, if it wasn't for your luck with women I would think you were born under some unlucky star."

"About that, you said you would explain to me something called the Birds and Bees, but you never told me even after so long."

Here Chamo started sweating. "Urg... I'll tell you when you're older."

"What! Aren't I old enough now? Theoretically I'm almost of age!"

"Look bro, there are things you are better off not knowing. What you're asking is one of them. So wait until you're at least of age before you ask!"

"Fine, I'll make sure you keep your word."

"Whatever, get going it almost time for the gate to open."

"Kay, Later Chamo!" With that Negi walked towards the gate port.

Once Negi was out of sigh, Chamo gained a devious grin. "Hot-springs, Here I come!"

...

Negi along with a crowd of other magi all suddenly appeared back at the gate in Wales.

Taking his first breath air of the Old World in 2 years, he couldn't help but frown at the impurities he breathed in. It seemed that in the time span that he had been gone. The air had been polluted even more, or he had gotten so used to Mundus Magicus's air that he was experiencing jet lag.

Shrugging it off, he headed towards home. Hopefully he would surprise Nekane and Anya when he showed up so unexpectedly. After all he just told them he would be back in time for Anya's graduation which was another week away, but that didn't mean he told them when he would be back.

It took him 30 minutes to reach the village. Consulting his pocket watch he saw that it was almost time for lunch at home. Missing his cousin/sister's cooking, he sped up his pace.

Soon enough he was in front of his house. Bringing out the key, he opened the door. What he had expected was the empty hallway to the house. What he didn't expect was Anya flying towards his face with her leg outstretched. It didn't help that it was on fire as well.

"Anya Flame Buster Kick!" was all he heard before oblivion took him.

...

Waking up instantaneously was something Negi had learned to do over the course of his stay in Mundus Magicus. However when he woke up this time, he felt extremely groggy.

"Urghh... what happened...?" He swore he could hear someone muttering in the background, but he couldn't be too sure considering he was feeling so groggy. Once he felt sufficiently awake he slowly eased himself up on the bed that he was on. Looking around, he noticed that he was in his room. He recognized it from the scenery outside the window. Looking past it, he saw both Nekane and Anya in the corner looking at him warily.

Looking at them awkwardly all Negi did was smile and wave. "Hello Nekane, Anya, its almost been 2 years now."

At this, they both seemed to freeze before Nekane stepped up. "Who are you? How do you know us? And why do you resemble Nagi!?"

Negi blinked owlishly. "Uhhh, Nekane is something wrong...?"

This time it was Anya who stepped forward. "Idiot! She asked who are you. Are you retarded?"

Negi blinked again. Idly he wondered just where Anya learned such speech. "Uhh... I'm Negi of course, who else would I be?"

Anya seemed to flare up at this. "Don't lie! Negi should only be at least 10 years old! Whoever you are, you look closer to 15 or 16!"

At this Negi seemed to understand the problem. "Ah! ah! I can explain!"

"Explain it when you're jail!" With that Anya jumped at him again with another flying kick.

This time Negi was somewhat prepared for it so quickly ducking he channeled magic into his ring and his trusty staff came out of its seal.

"_Flans Carcer Venti Vertentis! (Flowering Whirling Prison of Wind!)_" Quickly using a capture spell, he managed to restrain Anya. However when he turned to face Nekane, he saw her charging with a frying pan in hand she had gotten from somewhere.

"_Deflexio (Shield)_" Muttering an anti-physical barrier, he watched as the frying pan bounced off harmlessly.

One he was sure she wouldn't attack again, he moved away from the bed so that he could face both of them. "Look I can explain! Lots of things happened while I was in Mundus Magicus and how I look now was because of that."

"Liar! Negi always sent us letters about how he was always traveling with different groups of mages! There's no way he could've grown so much just acting as a Caster and Supporter!" Anya cried out.

Not for the first time, Negi felt guilty for lying in his letters, but he wanted to censor his adventures when they got too dangerous.

"Look I can prove that I'm really Negi! All I ask is that you both won't attack me if I release you."

Nekane and Anya looked at each for a few seconds and as if they had a silent conversation, they both nodded. Negi mentally wondered if females could telepathically talk to each other. When he saw them both nod, he nodded back and slowly released the capture spell on Anya, though he kept his shield up. Experience from the past had allowed Negi to learn that Anya loved capitalizing on someone who lowered their guard.

Seeing both of them move towards each other, he moved back until he was at the bed again. Once he was sure they both wouldn't attack him, he put his staff next to the bed and channeled magic into his bracelet. From it his first wand appeared. Quickly tossing it over to Anya, who caught it with both hands, he heard her gasp. It's to be expected, that wand was something she had gotten for him when he was 4. However it seemed that it wasn't enough.

Glaring up at him Anya bit out. "How do I know you didn't just steal it huh?"

Inwardly sighing at how hard it was to convince her that it was him, he brought out his trump card. Channeling magic into a ring. His Pactio card popped up. Upon seeing the card in his hand, both females gasped. They were both well aware of what the card was so they had gotten more wary since to have that meant the person in question was a Minister Magi.

Quietly getting up he walked towards them with card in hand. As he approached they both froze up. Once he was almost in front of them. He flipped the card around showing a picture of himself when he was 9 years old with a gun in one hand and his staff diagonally in front of him with a smile on his face. However the big thing they zoomed in on was the owners name 'Negius Springfieloes'.

Once Negi was sure they saw the name on the card he activated it. _Adeat._

The card disappeared and from his hand, the gun that Negi was holding appeared in his hand.

"Do you believe me now?" When Nekane and Anya both heard the question, they snapped out of their daze and once they took a good look at him, they both tackled him.

"Urk!" Falling onto the ground from the force they tackled him with, Negi could only sigh as they both squeezed as hard as they could. _Abeat._ Mentally willing his card back into his ring. All Negi could do was awkwardly pat their heads.

Once they had sufficiently calmed down, Negi went and stored his staff in his ring again. They had now moved downstairs where Nekane was making dinner now. Apparently when he entered, they had thought it was a robber of some sort since no one else had the key and since they were both in the kitchen making lunch, it was Anya who jumped to the conclusion.

In a way it explained why the first thing he saw was a flying kick aimed at him. Even when they were young he remembered Anya being very aggressive. Once Nekane had finished making lunch, Negi couldn't help but slightly drool, while the food in Mundus Magicus was good and unique, there was no taste like home.

Once the table had been set they slowly started to eat. As they did so, questions and answers were shot between them.

"So Negi, how was your trip to the Magical World?" There was Nekane starting off.

Negi swallowed before replying. "It was really cool! I got to see flying whales! Some dragons and a whole lot of other things as well! I even got to see a Divine Warrior of Megalomesembira Confederation!"

"Idiot! What the hell happened to you?" There was Anya being blunt.

"Uhhh... I went into too many time dilation fields?"

"What's that suppose to mean!?"

"Anya, there's no need to be so rude. Negi tell us about your adventures! As a wanderer I'm sure you explored lots of places."

"Ahh! Yea! When I first got into Megalomesembria I was completely lost even with Chamo helping me! But I was lucky and ran into a group of hunters that needed a long range magician. When I told them if I could join, they laughed at me so badly! But! But it was because they were actually scared of getting a kid involved! Aren't they nice! They weren't laughing at me because I was young, but because they were worried about me!"

Anya face-palmed. "Idiot! how do you look 15-years old but act like a 9-year old!"

"That's because I am 9 years old! Even if I look 15!" Negi shot back.

"Hah? How does that even make sense!?"

"You just don't understand it!"

"What did you say!"

Nekane just giggled into her hand watching the spectacle. Idly she thought '_It's just like old times'_.

...

After dinner, both Nekane and Anya sat on one side of the couch in the living room while Negi sat across from them on another couch.

"Well?" both Nekane and Anya asked.

Negi took a deep breath before breathing it out. He stayed silent for a bit.

"... Where to start... I guess I'll start with how I ended up looking older. ...It all started about 1 year into my assignment as a wanderer. I thought I was good enough to start wandering by myself. So I started traveling alone. Sometimes with Chamo, but sometimes he was off conducting business on both our behalves. During those times that he was off, I mainly stuck to exploring ruins nearby because I didn't think I was ready to go hunting by myself. During one such time I accidently discovered a part of an ancient ruin that wasn't discovered before." Here Negi paused to make sure both weren't lost. Seeing that they weren't he continued. "Since it was an unexplored ruin, there was bound to be traps so I slowly advanced and after maybe a day or so. I found what could best be described as a library. Inside it, there were books that had to be at least 100 years old and at the center of the library was a Diorama Magic Sphere.

"Diorama Magic Sphere?" Nekane and Anya asked?

"Yes, a Diorama Magic Sphere is basically an entire world pushed into a sphere. In it time can run differently depending on the user's preference. I was lucky that the Sphere had reset it's master because it had been inactive for so long. I ended up being the new master of the sphere and from there I sort of made it so that 1 day outside it was equal to 30 days inside it."

At this Nekane seemed to gasp. Negi looked at her and saw understanding in her eyes. It seemed that she knew where he was going. Anya was not so quick on uptake.

"So? That doesn't explain how you look so much older."

Just as Negi was about to explain to her, Nekane cut in. "It's because you spent a long time in that sphere right?"

"Huh?" Anya was still clueless

Negi nodded.

"Hold up! What's going on?!"

"Anya, Negi basically lived a couple of years inside the Sphere, but since 1 day outside meant a month inside, it meant that inside at least 5 years had passed right?"

Negi smiled, sometimes he had forgotten that despite her demeanor, Nekane was still a magi.

"Wait! wait! You mean Negi lived a couple of years inside the sphere while outside very little time had passed?!" Looks like Anya was finally catching on.

"Yea, that's right. In total I've probably been inside the sphere for at least 4 years. So technically I am 9 years old and 13~14 years old at the same time."

Anya couldn't handle it and fainted. Nekane just put a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"It seems that just like your father, you get into all sorts of trouble..."

"Hahaha..." Negi laughed awkwardly.

"Well? Did that journey help you get closer to becoming a Magister Magi?"

Here Negi adopted a serious look. "Yea, the journeys given me a lot to think about. You could say that I'm almost finished with the assignment for now."

"I see..." Nekane smiled, "So long as you have no regrets then its fine."

"...Thanks Nekane..."

"Well let's go to sleep! It's been a day full of surprises and I'm sure tomorrow will contain just as many!" Picking up Anya from the couch Nekane made her way upstairs.

"Nekane... I'll show you the sphere tomorrow, it looked like you wanted to see it." Negi called.

"...Thank you, I've always been interested in researching them." with that, Negi was left thinking about what was going to happen next.

...

"Come on! Hurry up! I wanna see this so called sphere!" Anya had rushed in and started shaking Negi awake once it was morning.

"Nghh... 5 more minutes..." As Negi said that, he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

"Grrrr... if that's the case...! ANYA FLAME BUSTER PUNCH!"

"Gu huuuhhh.."

"Oh my, Anya, you shouldn't do that, Negi stayed up late last night you know."

"Who cares! I wanna see it now!"

Nekane sighed. "Negi you okay?"

"...I'm awake..."

"Oh? In that case let's go already..."

Negi didn't know what to say. One second she was reprimanding Anya and the next she was telling him to hurry up. Sighing he got up and went to use the bathroom. Once he was done he entered his room again to see them both waiting impatiently. Anya, Negi could understand but Nekane? This was really a weird day for him.

"Alright. alright. Give me 5 minutes or so." Once he said that wind seemed to gather around him before he disappeared.

After 5 minutes wind slowly started to gather in the room to form a miniature twister before it stopped to reveal Negi who was now wearing different clothes.

"Sorry about that but I had to set it so that it would accept your entry. Now you ready to go?"

Both Nekane and Anya nodded. Seeing that Negi grabbed a hold of him before they disappeared in a twister of wind.

...

Appearing right outside the Diorama Sphere, Anya and Nekane couldn't help but look at it in awe. It was almost as large as their house. Looking around, they noticed that they were in a stone room, making it look eerily similar to a dungeon.

"Hey where are we?" Anya was getting freaked out from the surrounding area. Nekane secretly agreed.

"Ah, we're at the entrance to the Sphere, since directly entering it is impossible, we have to use the magic circle." Here Negi pointed near the edge of the Sphere where they were an indeed a circle there. "As for where we are, I guess you could call it a pocket dimension?"

Here Nekane and Anya whipped there heads toward Negi. "Pocket dimension?" they both asked.

Negi nodded, "Yea a pocket dimension, I wanted a safe place to store this thing so I had to create a place that only I could enter along with the people I allow."

"Anyway, let's go." Urging them both into the circle they were teleported into the sphere.

When Nekane and Anya opened their eye's they saw themselves standing in front of a castle. Their jaws dropped.

Negi just smirked. "I'd say welcome to the Castle of Alexandria, but that would probably be presumptuous of me."

"W-w-what! What is this! How'd we end up in front of a castle!" There was Anya breaking down again.

"Ohhh my..."

"Come on you wanted to see it didn't you?" With that Negi walked inside.

It took them awhile to regain their wits but they rushed to catch up. It wasn't necessary as Negi had waited for them inside. Smirking he said, "Thought you people didn't want a tour, got scared for a second."

"Here's the bedrooms." At least 10 rooms spanning a hallway

"Here's the bathroom." A pool in the middle of a castle

"Here's the Library." An entire tower dedicated to books

"Here's the storage room." An entire basement...

"The kitchen" Surprisingly small

"My Antique collection" Enough weapons for an army

"and my workshop" It's private

"W-w-what's with this! It's like you're living in a castle!"

"Uhh.. I kind of am?"

Mashing her hands to her head Anya shouted,"GRAH! MY HEAD HURTS!"

"C-calm down now Anya, this place is very fragile!"

Nekane who had been silent up until now finally spoke up.

"Negi do you mind if I borrow one of your bedrooms for the day?"

"Eh?" Negi was confused, why would she want to borrow the bedroom for a day?

"May I borrow a bedroom for a day?" This time she said it with a very scary face.

"U-uh sure... just pick a random one?" Instantly Nekane was all smiles.

"Good, please don't disturb me for the day." With that she started walking away. However she paused for a second. Turning to face both Anya and Negi her face turned demonic "If you bother me, I'll make sure I'll kill you in the worst way possible, understood?" Negi and Anya quickly started nodding their heads. Again Nekane was all smiles and started walking away again.

After awhile it was Anya who spoke up. "You think we might have just avoided death?"

Negi nodded furiously "Definitely, I've seen magic beasts that were scary but Nekane was definitely scarier just now."

"Good, I'm not the only one to think so."

"..."

"..."

"So... wanna go check out the library? I found quite a few fire spells during my wandering."

"Really? Is there anything good! Please tell me there is! The academy barely has any good fire spells and most of the ones I have are self invented!" Anya gushed out.

"Really...?" Negi had remembered that kick. If that was self-invented then Anya had to be crazy talented to create such an effective technique. Negi never once fathomed that he was just bad at close combat.

...

It had been a week since Negi had returned to the Old World and today was the graduation ceremony for Anya. Under strict orders from both Nekane and Anya, Negi had put on a ring that transformed his body back into his 10 year old self when magic was applied. When he had asked why, Anya had said, "_Are you an idiot? If people see you as a teenager when you're suppose to be a kid, don't you think they would freak out?"_. After that he had taken to wearing the ring everyday Anya did have a point, it would be strange if people saw Negi would had only been gone for 2 years returned looking like a teenager instead of a kid.

Now here he was in his kid form watching as Anya received her diploma just like he had almost 2 years ago.

When that was done, he and Nekane moved to Anya who was standing there staring at the diploma waiting for her assignment to show up. When it did, it stated "_Fortune Teller in London_", Negi was puzzled as to how that would help Anya achieve her goal, but it seemed that Anya was satisfied with it.

"Well it looks like my assignment has shown up. Guess it's time to go home now? I have maybe a month before I set out. Longer if you let me use Alexandria." At this Anya looked at Negi pleadingly. It seemed that ever since Negi had shown Anya his library of fire spells he slowly accumulated from his travels, she wanted every chance she could get to practice them. Of course, she wanted to copy down every single spell and Negi wouldn't allow it since some of the spells required reserves that she just did not have. Though he gave her a copy anyway, however it wouldn't reveal itself until Anya had the magic reserves to use it safely.

She had sulked at first at not being able to use such high level spells but when Negi had shown Anya what happened to people who used spells above their level, she promised to wait patiently for them to show up. It was definitely traumatize a person when they found out that if they used a spell too strong for them, it would slowly overload their body and paralyze them forever. Definitely incentive to not do something they weren't ready for.

"Ah... hold up I want to go talk to the principal."

"Oh? Why do you want to talk to that old geezer for?"

At Anya and Nekane's questioning look, Negi just held up the diploma he had received two years ago. They both looked confused as to why Negi still had it. However they couldn't ask as Negi had gone looking for the principal.

...

"Principal! Principal!" Hearing his name being called, he turned around to have his eye's widen as he saw a familiar face.

"Negi! My boy! How are you doing? I haven't heard from you in 2 years. I had thought I saw you at the graduation ceremony but now I'm certain."

"Haha, I've been doing fine Principal, what about yourself?"

"Ho Ho I've been doing fine, this year was a fine batch of magi, while there was only four, they were some of the best."

Here Negi smiled. "So what can I do for you my boy? And may I ask why you seem to have a transformation placed on yourself?"

At this Negi gained an alarmed look before it disappeared. "Haha it seems I can't hide from you eh?"

With that the transformation on Negi slowly disappeared until he was back in his teenager form. As the principal watched on, his eye's widened as he saw Negi transform from a young boy into a teenager.

"Ho ho, it seems that you've been busy over these last two years eh?" The principal chuckled.

"Ye-" Negi was cut off as both Anya and Nekane finally caught up.

"Negi! Stop going off on your own dammit!" Anya roared as she caught up.

"Haha, sorry but I really wanted to talk to the principal." Negi just rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"You could've at least waited until we caught up!"

"Ah! Sorry, sorry, I was in a rush."

"Ahem!"

"Ahh! Sorry about that principal. I actually have a favor to ask."

"Oh? And what kind of favor would that be my boy?"

Here Negi looked indecisive. "Remember two years ago how you said the diploma was merely a guideline to achieving your goal?"

"Uhm, I remember... Is something the matter?"

"Actually its about this." Holding up the Diploma he received two years ago, Negi handed it to the principal.

The principal looked at him questioningly before opening it and reading it. When his eye's saw the task his eye's widened.

"Huh... my boy.. aren't you full of surprises. First your aged appearance and now a new assignment?"

At the principal's questioning tone all Negi could do was laugh awkwardly.

"Eh?" Both Anya and Nekane were not so eloquent.

"What do you mean he has another assignment?" Both shouted.

"Ho ho, exactly what I mean. It seems that Negi here has another assignment." Flipping the diploma around for Anya and Nekane to read, they saw it read, "_Teacher in Japan"_.

"WHAT?!" both shouted in unison.

"There's no way he could be a teacher! He's 9 years old for crying out loud!" Anya was in denial again like when he received his first assignment while Nekane was strangely silent.

"Ho ho, but that's what the diploma says. So my boy what do you think? Like I said before the diploma is merely a guideline offering the best route towards your goal. It might not be the one you like so you could choose to ignore it and do it differently." At the principals questioning tone, Negi closed his eye's. When he opened them again, his eye's were shining with determination.

"Like you said, the diploma is merely a guideline, but it's the best path towards my goal right? In that case I'll accept it!"

"Ho Ho, that's a nice look in your eye's. Very well, I'll help you out, as it happens I have a friend in Japan who needs an English teacher for their school. I hope you're ready in 2 months."

"Yes! I'll be more then ready!"

Anya just sighed into the palm of her hand while Nekane was silent with an introspective look on her face.

"Well my boy, mind enlightening me to the drastic change your body has undergone in two years?"

"Ah that..." As Negi explained the circumstances for his change Nekane looked forward with resolve.

"Principal!" At Nekane's sharp voice, he turned from his conversation with Negi.

"Yes Nekane?"

"Negi's ready."

At this the principal gained a serious look. "Are you sure?"

"Positive"

"..."

"..."

Both Negi and Anya were unsure of what was going on but stayed silent.

Eventually the principal turned to Negi. "Negi my boy, follow me. Anya and Nekane might as well come."

Sharing a confused look with Anya they both followed after the principal and Nekane. The principal eventually led them down towards the cellar area of the academy and as they got deeper and deeper, it seemed that Anya recognized where they were going and gained a somber look. Seeing the change in his childhood friends behavior, he steeled himself for what was to come.

Once they reached a door, the principal turned to Negi. "Negi, my boy, I'm sure you've always been curious as to what happened to all the villagers after _that_ night right?"

Once Negi heard that, he immediately knew what was behind that door. Without even waiting for the principal to finish. He pushed the door open, being sure to move it slowly just in case any of the villagers were near the door. Once he got a look inside he couldn't help but tightened his hand into a fist, but then as if remembering something, he calmed down.

Slowly walking up to a particular statue of an old man, he couldn't help but smile nostalgically.

"Hello, Old man Stan... it's been almost 5 years now? ... I've changed a lot over those years. I've explored lots of different places and met all kinds of people. I've even saved some people like you did me. Yet I still haven't found a way to change you back... and for that I'm sorry..."

The Principal, Anya and Nekane were silent as they heard Negi talk. In a way this was long over due. However both Nekane and the Principal feared Negi would have had a breakdown if they showed him this place too early. But it seemed that there worries were put to rest.

"Huuu..." Negi breathed out. Abruptly turning around, Negi smiled at all 3 of them. "Well that was a lot off my mind. I was always worried about what happened to the villagers after that night, but now those worries can be put to rest! Thank you for showing this place to me!"

At this all 3 of them smiled back.

"Now if you will excuse me, I'm about to try something." Turning to face Stan again, he pulled out his Pactio card. Nekane and Anya gasped as they saw him pull out his Pactio card while the Principal looked on in interest. _Adeat._

As the card disappeared, a Desert eagle appeared in Negi's right hand.

"_Magia Globus. Oneratis. Curaga! (Magic Bullet. Load. Cure3!)"_ Quickly charging magic into the gun, he kept gathering till it threatened to overload.

"Oi oi Negi! What are you doing with so much energy!"

Ignoring Anya's call, he aimed the gun at Stan's statue and fired.

A beam of light erupted from the barrel of the gun and bathed the entire place in white light. When the light had receded and Nekane, Anya and Principal could see again, they were shocked by what they saw.

Despite Negi gathering enough magic to level the whole place, everything remained unchanged, except for the fact that Negi's hand was smoking. Negi took a glance at his smoking hand before dismissing his Pactio. _Abeat._

Turning around to face the 3, Negi made a pained smile before saying, "Looks like it wasn't enough to fix the petrification huh..."

Anya was the first to reply. "Of course idiot! Did you think so little energy would be enough to reverse it? If it was, they would've been cured a long time ago!"

Nekane was next. "Anya! That was rude!"

"Ah no, no, she's right. If it was that easy then they would've been cured sooner. But that just mean's I'll have to try looking harder right?!"

"Ho ho, indeed. I guess that's why you kept the diploma? So that you could see if you were ready for the next step?"

"That's right! I remembered that you said it would be a guide line for my goals so I kept it!"

"Well, you're one of the few that do, most of the magi's just look at the assignment and it's forgotten until they open it again."

"Haha I guess that's true." Awkwardly waving his smoking hand, ALl Negi could do was laugh

"Oh! Let me fix that. _Curaga(Cure3)!_" With that Negi's smoking hand healed until there was nothing left.

"Haha, it seems that I was really underestimating the petrification huh?"

"Pay it no mind my boy, it's to be expected. One can't expect to be able to unravel demon magic so easily without venturing into the demon plane itself."

Coughing into his hand the Principal started walking away. "Now that you know about this place, I'm sure I no longer need to tell you that you're free to visit whenever you want right? Well I'm off, I can hear that accursed paperwork calling me even now."

Once he was gone Negi turned to Nekane and softly said, "Thanks for letting me come to this place."

Nekane looked away, "Don't thank me when I could've told you sooner"

"Ah don't worry about that. He was right, if I came too early I would've broken down."

Turning to Anya he added, "Now Anya, mind telling me why you didn't tell me? I thought we were friends."

"W-Wha! I only discovered this place last year. You were off gallivanting in Mundus Magicus! How was I suppose to tell you when letters couldn't reach you!"

"Hahaha I was kidding." With that Negi started walking out as well.

As he passed Anya he whispered, "Thanks for that."

Anya didn't even deign it with a response.

Once they were alone Nekane was the first to speak up.

"He's grown..."

"Yea... Never would've thought that air-headed idiot would grow up so fast. Now I can't let him get ahead of me! I have to catch up!"

"Heheh Anya, looks like you see Negi as a rival now." Nekane giggled into her hand

"Of course! We're both aiming to be Magister/Magistra Magi's, he's got two years ahead of me! I have to catch up!"

"Huhu, Good luck Anya, knowing you, you'll catch up soon considering you never put your best into it. Now you have a reason." With that Nekane walked off as well.

"Kuh... that woman! How'd she know that!" Turning her head towards the statues, she quietly whispered, "Don't worry mom, I'm looking for a cure too." Slowly closing the door she whispered, "I'll visit again when I have time again." With that the door was closed.

* * *

**AN: Man this chapter felt long. And to think I wrote this in 5 hours. Well sorry if the quality if bad, but I just wrote what I felt like would be good. Next chapter will be Negi arriving at Mahora and from there it'll slowly start diverging. How I don't know, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I'm also amazed I could update this again so soon. Laters.**

**Edit: Fixed a mistake someone pointed out. Feb 11,2013**

**Edit: Fixed another mistake that was pointed out. Feb12,2013**


	4. Chapter 4

Negi had decided that he would be heading to Japan 2 weeks earlier then he had intended. His reasoning was that since right about now was the time that the students were on break it would provide him with time to get used to the surroundings of his new workplace. Of course Anya for some reason or another decided that she wasn't going to wait a month at all before starting her assignment. Instead she as soon as a few days had passed stating she had to catch up to Negi. Which in turn led to Negi leaving earlier as well.

Here he was on the empty train heading towards the center of Mahora in his teen form. He had been repeatedly lectured by Nekane to always have his ring on so that he would appear as a kid. After all if people last saw you as kid and you appearing before them as a teen after two years, there hearts probably wouldn't be able to take it. So he relented and kept the ring on, but not active all the time. He found that being in his kid form was _very_ restricting and he had been traveling around in his teen form for so long that he had a hard time adjusting to being a kid again.

Though he did have to say that Mahora was beautiful. The World Tree at the center of the entire place surrounded by buildings of all types made it seem as if it was one gigantic living thing.

Luckily for him though, the principal had been kind enough to give him directions to get to Mahora Academy Middle School where he would be teaching. He would also be meeting Takamichi again after so long, so it wasn't all that bad, though he had to make sure he had his transformation on. He didn't know how Takamichi would react to him suddenly showing up as a teen especially when the last time he had seen him was when he was 7-years old or so. It was also an amazing coincidence that there was someone that he wanted to meet at Mahora and here he was. Now all he had to do was see if he could find her in this large city.

Soon enough the train arrived at its destination. "_Mahora Academy! I repeat Mahora Academy!_" Getting off, he made his way to a deserted alley and made sure there were no cameras nearby. Once he was sure there were none, he transformed into his kid form. Walking out again, he whistled a tune as he headed towards the gigantic building off in the distance. Most likely that would be his destination especially since he could see the crazy amount of magical energy being generated from inside it.

...

Inside Mahora Academy, the Dean Konoeman Konoe along with Takahata T. Takamichi and the various other magically aware teachers were in a meeting.

It was Konoe who started off the conversation. "It appears that this semester we will be having a new teacher join us."

At this, all of them perked up. It was Kuzonoha Toko who spoke up. "Oh? Someone actually answered the request for a magi to come help us keep order?" She was the chief of operations for Mahora's mage division which was right below Konoeman's position of him being the chief of the entire organization.

"Well it's not so much as someone answered it. Rather it's someone that was assigned to this place."

"Huh? What do you mean? Why would someone be assigned to this place when we sent a request to the other magic academies?" There was Seruhiko being curious.

"Hooo, well it seems that being assigned as a teacher in Japan was their journeyman assignment so it would be safe to say they were assigned no?"

"Tch, you mean it's a brat who's showing up?" There was Kuzunoha being angry at the fact that they weren't getting more help.

"Now now, even though he's young, he's quite special according to my friend who recommended him. I hear that this is his second official assignment." Konoe tried placating the fuming Kuzunoha.

"So? Just mean's he's a newbie instead of a brat." At this all the males in the room sighed. Kuzunoha had been increasingly frustrated most likely due to the fact that she couldn't spend more time with her boyfriend.

It was Akashi who spoke up next. "Well who is it that's coming anyway?"

At this question, Konoeman just grinned before turning to Takamichi. "Ho ho, it seems that young Negi-kun has returned from his trip and is going to be our new English teacher."

Takamichi seemed to smile at this piece of news while the rest of the sensei's were showing confused expressions. It was Seruhiko who asked the question on their minds. "Who is this 'Negi-kun' you speak of Konoeman-san?"

It was Takamichi who answered. "Negi Springfield, son of Nagi Springfield, the Thousand Master. I heard that he graduated two years ago and his diploma slated him to wander Mundus Magicus. I'm guessing that Negi-kun has returned?"

Konoeman started laughing at this. "Ho ho, indeed, he apparently came back two weeks ago and will be teaching here in another two weeks."

As the teachers digested this news it was Akashi who spoke next. "But you said that it was someone who had an journeyman assignment that would be coming. Doesn't Negi-kun already have an assignment?"

"Ho, nice eye picking out that detail. That is right, Negi-kun already had an assignment but it seems that it's given him a new assignment to be a teacher here."

"What! But the diploma doesn't work like that! It's suppose to be a guideline that offers the best route to the magi's goal. It can't just suddenly change to a new task!" Akashi, ever the researcher was confused as to why it changed.

"Hoho, but that's magic isn't it? It can't be constrained to petty things such as laws. Besides I have a theory about them pieces of paper. It is as you said that the diplomas point the best path to the magi's goal, but what if the magi's goal has changed? or what if the diploma deemed him ready for a better path? What then Akashi-sensei?"

At this Akashi had nothing to respond with, so he just stayed silent.

"...So does this mean that we're done?" It was Kuzunoha who spoke up.

"Ho ho, I would presume so. Just be ready for when Negi-kun shows up. It should be sometime around when school starts. Now Kuzunoha-sensei, Seruhiko-sensei, Akashi-sensei, Gandolfini-sensei, Nijuin-sensei you're dismissed. Takamichi please stay behind."

With them being dismissed, the teachers all left the room leaving Konoe and Takamichi alone.

"What did you want Konoeman-san?"

"None of that honorific stuff Takamichi. So it seem's that Negi-kun will be taking over your post in English and you'll be the new Art teacher. Are you fine with that?" At the deans questioning tone, Takamichi could only smile ruefully.

"Of course, despite my post I don't feel that I'm suited for teaching English especially since I wasn't so good with it myself."

"Ho ho, that humility is a good trait...Oh!" Konoeman seemed to perk up for some reason.

"Is something the matter Konoeman?" Takamichi asked seeing the old man jump.

"Haha, it's nothing Takamichi, but it seems that our new teacher has decided to show up two weeks earlier then intended."

Takamichi seemed to perk up at this. "Oh? Negi-kun is already here?"

The dean nodded. "Uhm, it seems that hes currently on the train headed towards us. Why don't you go greet him? After all you haven't met in two years right?"

"Yea.. don't mind if I do." With that Takamichi left, no doubt to track down Negi so that he wouldn't get lost.

"Hm... the son of the Thousand Master huh... I wonder if I should arrange a omiai between my granddaughter and him hmm..."

...

Negi had been walking towards the academy after he got off. It was a weird sight to see a 9 or 10 year old walk towards the academy. The residents of Mahora thought that he had gotten lost but when they asked, he had told them that he was going their to meet someone nearby. With him reassuring them the residents themselves stopped worrying, but the female portion couldn't help but remark at how cute he looked.

A kid wearing a beige cloak that was almost too large for him in spring? It was almost like he was cosplaying! Of course they had the mind to not go up to him and start hugging him since it could look like assault in such a place.

Negi had pointedly ignored all the muttering of him being cute from the residents he had passed. This was one of the reason's he didn't like his kid form. People called him cute! He didn't like it when people called him cute. Not that he wasn't flattered by the praise, but did they have to use such a word?

Now he was just waiting for the dean to send someone to pick him up. When he first entered Mahora he felt himself entering a large bounded field. No doubt it had alerted the dean that he had showed up and probably anyone that was monitoring as well.

Soon enough he felt a presence approaching from the academy. He immediately recognized who it was. Even though it had been 2 years to him, to Negi it was much longer. Moving towards a secluded plaza that was right in front of the World Tree, he waited for the person to show up.

As expected once the person did show up, Negi immediately recognized Takamichi. Slowly moving towards him, he waved. "Takamichi! How're you doing!"

When Takamichi got to the place that Negi was last felt at, he was surprised to see that someone was already there wearing a beige cloak. However when he heard the person calling him, he couldn't help but smile.

"Ahh, Negi-kun how have you been doing?"

Negi paused at what Takamichi just spoke. It wasn't English, but then he recognized it as Japanese. Switching over to Japanese himself he replied back. "I've been great. Got to see Anya and my sister before I came here and now I have 2 weeks to get settled in before I begin my new assignment!"

"Haha, it seems that you've picked up on Japanese since I last saw you huh?"

Negi just awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Haha, when I saw that I had an assignment as a teacher in Japan I was confused at first, but then I kind of forgot about it till I got back. Spent the last week studying it when I had time. I can speak it normally, but I can't completely understand all the meanings."

"Ahh that, don't worry about it, Japanese has a lot of words that are the same but have different meanings after all."

"Ahaha..."

"So what brings you here so early? I just got out of a meeting with the dean saying how you wouldn't be here for at least another two weeks, right around the time the new term starts."

"Ah... that... well I was originally going to do that, but then Anya went off a month earlier then intended and I decided to do the same. Also I thought I'd get a feel for how the area is like, especially since something must be going on for there to be such a bounded field around the whole city?"

"Ahaha? You actually felt that? You must've grown up a lot huh Negi-kun."

"Wouldn't really call it growing up, more like mentally aging no?" Negi smiled and shot Takamichi a look.

At this Takamichi seemed to be taken aback before he smiled back. "Now now Negi-kun I'm still pretty young. I don't have the mind of an old man either you know."

"Hm.. I wonder about that Takamichi."

"Haha, seems like growing up wasn't the only thing you did while you were away. You seemed to have gained quite the tongue."

Negi look towards Takamichi and said, "I'd like to think of myself as a gentleman so I have no clue what you're talking about."

Takamichi just smiled good naturedly. "So what do you think of Mahora so far Negi-kun?"

Negi took a deep breath before releasing it. "Huh. The air's surprisingly clean and the ambient magic is quite high. Overall it's a great place, but won't this much ambient magic in the air interfere with the electronics?"

"Ah, that. Don't worry about it too much, the ambient magic in the air is due to the World Tree being planted on top of a leyline, so magic is generated quite bit, but it doesn't interfere with nearby electronics for some reason."

As Takamichi explained it to Negi, he couldn't help but look at the World Tree in awe, while it wasn't anywhere as awe-inspiring compared to the sights in Mundus Magicus, it was still something.

"Well that's surprisingly convenient"

"Yea, it is, but lets head to the dean so we can get you properly settled in now shall we?"

"Uhm. That sounds like a good idea, lead the way."

As they both walked off Takamichi turned towards Negi. "I couldn't help but wonder, but just where is your luggage?"

"Ah. That. Well most of my stuff is being sent later after I find a place to set up shop, for now I have my important stuff on me."

Takamichi just looked at Negi confusedly. In response Negi just smiled back. Seeing the smile Takamichi couldn't help but sigh at Negi's antics. He was acting just like his father.

...

"Ho ho, Welcome Negi-kun. how are you enjoying your stay at Mahora so far?"

"Well Konoeman-san, I'm not exactly sure how to feel since I've only been here for about an hour? Though the people here are really nice."

"Ahh that's nice, now excuse me for getting straight to business but are you sure about accepting this post? This is only temporary. Depending on your performance you may end up failing." The dean said with a serious look.

Negi returned the look. "If I wasn't prepared for that then I wouldn't have been assigned here now would I?"

They both stared at each other for while. Eventually the contest was broken by Konoeman.

"Hahaha! Such determined eyes from one so young! Ahh youth!"

Negi stifled his own laugh and just waited for Konoeman to calm down. Once he did, the dean faced Negi again.

"Now, for this semester, you will be replaced Takamichi as the English Teacher as well as homeroom teacher for Class 2-A, are you fine with that arrangement?"

Negi nodded. "What about Takamichi? What will he be doing?"

"Ahh yes, Takamichi will be taking up the post of Art teacher which has been left empty due to various circumstances." At this both Takamichi and the Dean shifted a bit. It didn't escape Negi's eyes though. Mentally shrugging it off he nodded again.

"Good, now why don't you tell us why you're under a transformation of some kind?" At the Deans question both Negi and Takamichi's eyes widened before Takamichi moved to guard the door.

Negi felt Takamichi move towards the door. "Acha... how did you know? I thought I had concealed it well enough."

"Hoho, when you get as old as me you'll notice the small things. Like how you seem to be moving as if you aren't completely used to your body. Also your magic seems to be fluctuating when it nears the ring on your left hand."

"Ahhh... so that's how the principal noticed..." As Negi muttered that, both Konoeman and Takamichi waited patiently for an answer.

"Well it can't be helped, since you already noticed, I guess the cat's out of the bag so to speak." As he said that Negi's body slowly started growing. Both Konoeman and Takamichi watched the spectacle with wide eyes. When Negi was done growing he was in his teen form again. Quickly stretching his body he couldn't help but say, "Ahhhh... that feels so much better. You have no idea how weird it is to shift between this form and my child form."

Eventually it was Konoeman who broke the silence. "Ho ho, well aren't you full of surprises Negi-kun. I wonder where you got such an artifact to begin with." he looked at the ring on Negi's left index finger.

Negi absently rubbed his right index finger over the ring. "Ahh.. I found it during one of my treasure hunts in the Noctis Laybrinth in the Magical World..."

"Ahh.. youth, makes me wish I was young again."

Takamichi who was still guarding the door coughed into this hand. "Konoeman-san."

Hearing that the dean shook his head. "Ah sorry bout that, it seems I got off track for a second. Well? What happens to be the story?"

Hearing Konoeman's questioning tone and Takamichi's gaze on him he told them about how he ended up aging like so.

When he was done, both Konoeman and Takamichi had an introspective look on their face.

Eventually Konoeman spoke up. "I guess it's true eh. In the end too much of a good thing is bad, wouldn't you say Negi-kun?"

"Errr... it's not really that bad. I get more time to go over things and it's quite handy when I want to learn new things."

Eventually it was Takamichi who spoke up. He had moved from his position of guarding the door back into a seat next to the deans desk.

"Still Negi-kun, it seems that you've moved ahead of others. What about the people that still think of you as a 9-year old? You've practically jumped ahead a few generations."

"Ahhahah... I guess it is bad in a way." Negi rubbed the back of his head again.

The dean just laughed while Takamichi just sighed.

"Well enough of this gloomy stuff, have you decided what you'll be doing for the remainder of the two weeks before term starts?"

"Uhhh, I'll probably look for a place to stay nearby so I can get here quickly. Then I'll familiarize myself with the area. After that maybe check out the sights around Mahora?" As Negi listed his plans, the dean just looked thoughtful while Takamichi was listening to him. Once he was done explaining his plans the dean spoke up.

"I don't mean to push too much on you Negi-kun but would you be adverse to patrolling around Mahora at night?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Negi looked confused.

"Well Negi-kun, the reason why we had an open teaching position was because we lacked mages here. That's why we sent a request to the various magical academies. We hoped that one would be able to spare the man power to help patrol Mahora at night."

"Ah... Is it because this place has so much ambient magic that the wrong kind of trouble appears?"

At Negi's spot-on guess the Dean could only nod.

"Sure, sleep isn't really a problem with my Diorama. Just give me the time period and the area."

The dean let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you Negi-kun, it lets an old man like me rest a little easier. Incidentally what magic do you specialize in? I would need to inform Kuzunoha-sensei to see if the patrol routes need to be changed, just in case."

Negi just looked at the dean before stating, "Long-range demolition."

At this both the dean and Takamichi looked at Negi. It was the dean who spoke up again. "What...kind of... demolition would that be?" he was almost afraid to ask.

Sadly Negi didn't have any reservation with saying it. "The army kind."

"I-I see... very well you may go..." With that Negi got up and transformed in his child form and left the room.

Once he did though both Takamichi and the dean exchanged looks.

"Look's like I'll have to tell Kuzunoha-sensei to change up the patrol routes."

"Look's like it, though I wonder why he would specialize in long-range demolition."

"Takamichi, he was 8 when he entered Mundus Magicus, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to survive with only using weak single-target spells."

Takamichi seemed to sigh. "Is it wrong that a kid his age had to become an army-killer in order to survive?"

The dean just shook his head. "Remember Takamichi, despite how much we want to deny it, to walk the path of a magi is the same as walking with death. It seems that as time has gone on, such a mindset has slowly faded away."

"...yea... but still an army killer at the age of 9?" Takamachi said incredulously.

"Not exactly 9, more like 13 or 14 if you see how he's grown."

"... he reminds me of Nagi-san..."

"Hoho! Indeed! The resemblance was uncanny!"

"Let's just hope he isn't like Nagi-san huh? Or else you might have to fill out lots of property damage papers."

At Takamichi's retort, the dean couldn't help but pale as he looked at the pile of paperwork he had to fill for next semester.

...

Once Negi had left the deans room, he walked out of the academy and headed towards a Realtor store that he had passed on his way. He needed to find a place to set up his stuff. Hopefully it would be far away from other people. After a year spent wandering Mundus Magicus alone with only Chamo as an occasional companion, factor in him living in Alexandria it was to be expected that Negi had developed an affinity for appreciating nature.

As luck would have it, there was a cottage near the back of the World Tree close to the mountains open. The cottage that was close to the Mahora Academy was already occupied so the only place that fit Negi's specifications was the one near the back of the World Tree. To Negi it didn't really matter since it provided him with privacy and was only an hour and a half away as opposed to the hour away from the student dorms so Negi didn't really mind. If push comes to shove he could always fly back there or use his gate spell, though the latter took a great deal of energy, but desperate times called desperate measures.

By the time it was noon Negi was the owner of the rustic cottage stashed away at the back of the World Tree. Though he made sure to do it in his teen form since he doubted the realtor would've allowed a kid to purchase a cottage by himself. Glancing at his pocket watch, he decided to stop for lunch. Looking around for a place to eat he spotted a place that operated out of a street car. Shrugging it was as good place as any to stop for lunch. Besides it seems like the place was pretty popular if the people going in and out of it was any sign.

Walking in, he was treated to quite the sight. He was almost culture shocked, somehow the interior of the street car had a bar in it that was lined with stools, to the side of it were pull-out seats and tables placed in front of between them. Indeed it was what one would call a mobile restaurant. The patrons all seemed to be teens, but Negi guessed that was normal it was a break time so schools were closed for now. Walking up and sitting on a stool, he looked at the back wall. He had read before he came that normally Japanese restaurants placed their menus on the walls. Meaning you had to see what was available and pick based on those choices.

Looking around he noticed that most of the options were limited to noodles of some sort. He guessed it was because it was lunch time or maybe the owners preference. Mentally shrugging he looked over the choices, but as time went on he couldn't decide which one to try. He had never had Japanese cuisine before, so he wasn't sure what to pick.

As he was repeatedly looking around he never noticed that the chef seemed to pick up on his nervousness. Soon 10 minutes had passed and he still hadn't made his choice. He was jerked out of his thoughts as the chef placed a bowl of noodles in front of him.

Looking up at the chef he stammered out, "Ah.. ah.. I haven't ordered anything yet..."

The chef who was a plump girl just shook her head and gestured with her hand to eat with a smile on her face. negi was reluctant until the person next to him slapped him on the back. "Gahahaha! Don't worry bout it! This is just Yotsuba-danna's way of saying welcome! You look like a foreigner so she thought that you didn't know what to order!"

"Eh? R-really?"

"Really! Now come on kid, try it out! It's Yotsuba-danna's Ban Mian! It's great when its hot!" As the person urged him on, Negi slowly picked up a pair of chopsticks and prepared to eat it. Once he took his first bite, he felt flavors of all kind burst into his mouth. A combination of sweet,sour, spicy and a slew of others were present as well. Quickly taking another mouthful he started wolfing down the noodles.

The person who watched him eat couldn't help but laugh out. "Haha! It seems you like it as well huh?"

Negi swallowed before saying. "Thank you...?"

Hearing the questioning tone in Negi's voice the person answered. "Daigōin. Pochi Daigōin."

"Ah. Thank you Daigōin-san." Bowing his head like he had read Daigōin just laughed it off.

"No problem, it's always nice to see someone who appreciates Yotsuba-danna's cooking."

"Ahh right." Turning to the chef he bowed his head. "Thank you for the meal, Yotsuba-san." Yotsuba just smiled back.

"By the way how much is it?" As Negi said that he took out his wallet to pay for the food. However Yotsuba just shook her head again.

Seeing her shake her head Negi was confused. "Eh?"

Daigōin spoke up again. "Gahaha it seems that she's telling you this meal is on the house."

Negi turned towards Daigōin as he spoke and when he was done he turned back to Yotsuba. "I can't do that Yotsuba-san, I have to pay!"

She just shook her head again. Daigōin ever the helpful translator answered for her. "Yotsuba-danna is saying it's fine, just pay the next time you come. Got it?"

"B-but!" Negi was adamant that he paid for what he ate.

Daigōin spoke up again. "Look, she says the foods on the house, so just accept it and if you really want to pay her back, come more often. Got it?"

Seeing the looks Daigōin and Yotsuba were giving him he finally relented. Quietly finishing up his food he watched as the people milled about.

Once he was done he got up and bowed to Daigōin and Yotsuba. "Thank you for the meal Yotsuba-san and thank you Daigōin-san."

Yotsuba just gave him another smile while Daigōin just said, "Don't worry about it."

Negi nodded his head. "Let's meet again some time." With that he walked out of the street car. Looking back he saw that the car name was '_Chao __Bāo_ _Zi_'. Making a mental note to come back more often, Negi headed back towards Mahora Academy. Now that he had a place to stay, he better tell the dean so that he would know where he would be in case he had to contact him.

Making his way toward Mahora Academy again Negi could only think, _'I really need a cellphone if I have to keep walking around like this to deliver a message'_. He would've used magic, but using it in broad daylight in the Old World was not the best decision. It would be if you wanted to be turned into an ermine but not if you wanted to use it out of convenience.

Walking back though, he saw that there were quite a few girls milling about. Now that he thought about it, there were way more girls than boys. Shrugging off the discrepancy he continued onward. As he did though the girls would shoot him occasional looks or they would just openly stare at him which made him quite uncomfortable He wasn't used to being scrutinized for so long and some of the looks he was getting was scary, it was like he was in the presence of a Cerberus that wanted to eat him. Quickening his pace, he walked as fast as he could to get back to the Academy.

It got worse as the closer he got to the Academy, there were even more girls than where he came from and most of them were now staring at him as if it was a strange sight. Quickening his pace even further he wasn't running but nor was he walking.

Once he was directly outside the deans office he saw that there was a secretary outside the door. Walking up to her, he politely asked, "Excuse me, but is the dean in?"

The secretary looked up from her work and smiled at Negi. "Ara ara, who may you be?"

"Err..." he wasn't sure if the woman in front of him was aware of magic or not, if he told her that he was the new English teacher and he showed up as a kid then things would end up going crazy, but if he didn't answer her then he would probably shoo him off or something. As Negi's mind wandered off into thinking of crazy scenarios that got progressively worse. The secretary pushed a button on her desk and spoke into a microphone. "Konoeman-sama, there appears to be a young man outside asking for an appointment. Should I let him in?"

"_Oh? And how does he look like Shizuna-sensei?_" A speaker seemed to say.

"Well he has red hair and looks around 14 or 15 and he seem's to be suffering from something."

"_Err... can you repeat the last part?_"

"Yes sir, he keeps muttering something about being turned into an ermine and looks close to fainting."

"_Ahhh... yes you can let him_ _in_."

"Understood, sir."

Looking up, Shizuna called to Negi, "The dean has given you permission to enter."

When Negi heard that, she seemed to jerk out of his negative thoughts. "Ah..Okay thank you..." With that he walked into the room.

...

Closing the door behind him, Negi let out a sigh of relief.

"Ho ho, it seems that you were worried about something Negi-kun." turning to face the dean Negi put a smile on his face.

"No, it was nothing Konoeman-san." moving towards the deans desk, he sat down on one of the chairs in front of it.

Straightening his back the dean turned to face Negi. "So what can I do for you now Negi-kun?"

"Ah about that." Pulling out a piece of paper, Negi handed it over to the dean.

The dean took the piece of paper and saw an address on it. Looking at it confusingly he looked back at Negi.

"That's going to be where I'll be living for the duration of my stay here."

At this the deans eyes opened before they closed again. "Ho ho... you already have a place to stay despite being only here for about half a day? My my you sure work fast Negi-kun."

Negi just shrugged. "Well I thought it would be best that you know where to contact me so I didin't even get a chance to visit it yet."

"Indeed, though excuse this old man, but may I ask where you got the money to buy this place? I don't understand how someone as young as you managed to buy a home even if its in the rural parts of the city."

Negi shrugged again. "Well I just walked in to a Realtor office, asked for specific conditions and when they found a match, I just paid and viola. As for how I got the money, well I had a side job in Mundus Magicus despite wandering around."

"I see, well I hope you don't mind that I keep this do you?" Holding up the paper with his address on it. "You know, just in case I need to send a message to you."

He just shrugged again. "That's fine." Putting on a serious look on his face Negi continued. "If you don't mind me asking, just who is magically aware in this place?"

The dean just looked back and asked, "Why do you wish to know?"

"Uhh... well I'll be teaching as a 9 year old right? That means that I'll probably be running around as a kid most of the time except when I'm at home. But just in case I have to use magic, if I knew who was magically aware I can be wary of who to not perform it near or so."

The dean gave an understanding nod before replying. "Very well, the teachers that are magically aware are myself, Takamichi, Kuzunoha-sensei, Akashi-sensei, Seruhiko-sensei, Gandolfini-sensei, Nijūin-sensei and my secretary Shizuna-san who is outside. You an meet them when you can go on patrol tonight."

At this Negi was surprised. "Oh? My patrol route's been determined already?"

"Indeed, it seems that Kuzunoha-sensei has drawn up the new patrol schedules after I gave her your specialization."

Leaning back Negi could only nod. "By the way, are there any students that are magically aware or any regulations that I would have to follow?"

It was the deans turn to be surprised now. "Oh? Why do you think there are students that are magically aware and why would there be regulations to follow?"

Negi just smiled. "Please Konoeman-san, if there are magically aware teachers then there is bound to be magically ware students. As for why I think there are regulations, the fact that there are patrols means that there are rules to be followed no?"

"Ho ho, you're truly sharp. That's right there are magically aware students, but I'll leave you to figuring out who they are yourself. Where's the fun in life if you have all the answers hm? As for regulations, I'm sure one of the teachers will fill you in. But if I had to say one, it would be..." At this the dean seemed to radiate danger "_Don't mention magic around my grand daughter._" switching back to his old man persona, the dean asked, "understood?"

Negi who was rather surprised by the abrupt change could only nod his head slowly.

"Good, now why don't you head on to your new home and head to the World Tree at about 10 o clock? The teachers and some of the magically aware students will be there to go over the new patrol routes."

"I see, thank you for your Konoeman-san." Negi got up and prepared to leave.

"Incidentally, would you like me to arrange an Omiai between my grand daughter and you?" As the dean asked that, all Negi did was turn his head and ask, "uhh...whats's that?"

The dean could only shake his head and say, "Never mind, just make sure you're ready by tonight."

Nodding again he walked out of the room.

The dean could only shake his head at missing a chance to unbalance someone. How did someone not know what an Omiai was?!

...

Once Negi reached the cottage he bought, he smiled to himself. It was a very modest cottage, with a second floor patio, directly below it was the front door and a porch which had a staircase leading up to it. Apparently, below the porch was a sort of make-shift storage shed.

Inside the cottage it had a kitchen and bath unit along with a storage closet and a room. There was another door at the back that had a patio facing the mountain range in the distance. The second floor had two separate rooms. All in all it was what Negi would want as his 'ideal' home.

Though he made a note to remove the vines, if they found a way into the foundations, that would be very dangerous. Walking up the steps, he bought out the keys he was given and walked inside. Slipping out of his shoes, he walked forward looking around his new home. Walking towards the stairs that led to the basement, Negi flipped on the switch. The stairs were lit with a soft yellow glow.

Apparently this house was completely water powered. The water that flowed down the mountain went into a generator that slowly generated electricity from the flow of water, which would then be stored in a battery for later use. Negi couldn't help but marvel at the technology at Mahora, such things didn't exist in Mundus Magicus since everything was powered by magic and Wales still used gas to power there stuff.

Checking the battery, he saw that there was enough energy to last for a few days if he left everything on the entire time. Making a note to put a bounded field around the area, Negi started drawing up plans to renovate the house to serve as his workshop until he could set up a magic circle to Alexandria.

Looking at his pocket watch, Negi saw that he still had another 5 hours before he had to show up at the World Tree. That left him 4 hours or so to start renovating the house, or maybe 4 and a half if he arrived their via magic. But then that would be very rude to use magic. Maybe he should start researching a more efficient gate spell?

Mentally shrugging he got to work on renovating his lovely little cottage.

...

Landing on a branch of the gigantic World Tree, Negi couldn't help but compare the nightlife of Mahora to Ostia in Mundus Magicus. Both were equally bright and while Ostia had the advantage due to magic, Mahora was nothing to sneeze at either.

Looking down at the plaza, he saw that no one had shown up yet. It was to be expected, he had shown up an hour early with his gate spell and he was feeling a bit tired from the exertion. Transforming into his kid form he sat down and silently waited for the other teachers to arrive.

It didn't take long, with maybe 30 minutes left, teachers slowly started gathering at the Plaza and as they did, a bounded field went up. Most likely it was to prevent mundanes from entering their meeting. Quietly jumping down from his branch on the World Tree. Using some wind magic to cushion his fall, he landed below the plaza, slowly walking towards the bounded field, he felt as if he was walking through a wall of water.

Once he walked through though, he was greeted to sight of a sword at his neck. Pausing in his step forward, he looked to the owner of the sword. It was a blonde woman in a brownish-white jacket with black pants staring down at him.

"What are you doing here?!"

Before he could respond she was interrupted. "Now now Kuzunoha-sensei, there's no need to be so violent."

Turning towards the voice, both Negi and Kuzunoha saw that it was Takamichi who was walking towards them.

"Takahata, do you know this brat?"

Sighing at her angry tone Takamichi turned to Negi, "Negi-kun you shouldn't have your hood up like that, people who haven't seen you before will get suspicious."

"Ahahaha...sorry about that Takamichi." Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly he pulled back the hood of his cloak.

"Wha! Takahata, you can't be serious, the dean is actually letting him patrol? he's still a kid!" Kuzunoha was now outraged.

"Now now, Kuzunoha-sensei, our own students are kids as well but they're allowed to patrol, I don't see why Negi-kun can't."

"That and this are completely different! They're much older then him!" When Kuzunoha said that, some of the teachers couldn't help but agree.

"Now now, please calm down, the dean has already decided it and you yourself drew up the new schedule so just let it go?" Takamichi tried calming the enraged teacher.

"How can you be so callous Takahata! This is a kid and we're sending him to do an adult job!" Kuzunoha bit out.

Holding up his hands in a placating gesture Takamichi just said, "I'm not being callous, I just have that much faith in Negi-kuns ability, right Negi-kun?" sending a smile at Negi he desperately hoped he got the look of help he was sending him.

Negi who had been silent the entire time saw the look just nodded. "Uhm, I may be young but, I'll be in your care." As he said that he bowed to the teachers.

Kuzunoha seemed to relent and just bit out, "Fine, let's just wait for everyone to arrive so we can get this over with."

With that everyone seemed to go back to waiting for the others to arrive. Takahata walked over to Negi who was sitting on a bench by the plaza gazing at the World Tree.

"So how are you enjoying your stay in Mahora so far?"

Negi stared at the tree. "It wasn't bad, though I do wonder why Mahora Academy had so many girls and so little boys. Was I missing something or was it the girls part of the school?"

Takamichi looked confused. "Eh? What do you mean Negi-kun?"

"Well after I had lunch today at _Chao __Bāo_ _Zi_ as I was walking back towards Mahora Academy there were a lot more girls then boys as I got closer. In fact I didn't even see any boys inside the Academy at all." Negi explained.

Takamichi didn't know what to say. "Um... Negi-kun... what kind of school do you think Mahora Academy is?"

"Eh?" Negi showed confusion at Takamichi's question but said, "It's a middle school for boys and girls no? It's also where I'll be teaching right?"

At this Takamichi refrained from face palming. It seemed that even though Negi was older then his real age, he was still a 9 year old and that obviously meant there were things he didn't know about. "Um.. sorry to say this but... Mahora Academy is an all girls school."

"Eh...?" Negi let out.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHH?" he cried out. The teachers all looked toward the pair curiously before turning away.

"W-wha-what! How come I wasn't told that!" Negi babbled.

"Um... Negi-kun didn't you read the school title?"

"I-it just said Mahora Academy though!"

"Yes, that's the shortened title, the real title is Mahora Academy for middle school girls."

"..." Negi was shocked speechless.

Takamichi just sighed, "Well look like I gave you quite the news huh Negi-kun?"

"&*%^#*(&" Negi couldn't formulate any speech.

"Well I'm sure you'll do fine either way, after all I have faith in your abilities Negi-kun..." With that Takamichi walked away with a grin on his face.

Negi was left alone to digest the fact that he was teaching at an all-girls school instead of the co-ed school he'd thought it would be. He then froze when he thought of Chamo. If that ermine caught wind of this, he'd never hear the end of it. The surrounding teachers wondered why Negi had pushed his face into his hands like he was in despair.

Soon enough everyone had assembled and Kuzunoha was calling for everyone to gather up.

"Alright people! This is how it's going to work. We're all going to work in shifts of 2 hours. There will be 3 teachers each for the first two shifts and the last one will have 2, from there the 3 teachers will circle around the edge of the bounded field and eliminate any unsavory elements that are looking to break in. Understand!?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good, then the shifts are as follows, myself, Gandolfini-sensei and Goodman will be first shift. Then it will be Akashi-sensei, Serushiko-sensei and Nijuin-sensei, followed by Takahata and Springfield. Understand?!"

Another nod.

"Good, Gandolfini-sensei, Goodman is already patrolling the north west section, you'll head south east while I head south west. The next shift will rotate with us in 2 hours and then after another two hours Takahata and Springfield will take up the last shift."

With that the bounded field was dispersed and everyone went off. Negi moved to catch up to Takamichi as everyone else left.

"Hey Takamichi, who is Goodman-san? And where were the rest of the students who patrolled? I heard Konoeman-san say that they would be here."

At Negi's question Takamichi just nodded. "Hm, Goodman is a mage from the exchange student program with America and the students who normally patrol just come and go as they please. They are after all students, they don't need to actively patrol, they just volunteered. Though sometimes they do it for pay or just out of the goodness of there heart."

"I see, but what did Kuzunoha-sensei mean by 'unsavory' elements?"

At this Takamichi seemed to pause before he continued walking. "Well Negi-kun, for some strange reason demons and evil spirits are attracted to this place. Since they seem to come every day it was necessary to eliminate them before they get too deep into Mahora. Since we're suppose to be the teachers of Mahora, it was expected of us to be the ones to get rid of them. As time went on some students noticed this as well and started volunteering for one reason or another. Eventually it just became a daily ritual."

"I see, so that means that we have another 4 hours or so before we begin our shift?"

"That's right Negi-kun, though if there is an emergency we're expected to be the response team."

"But Mahora city is gigantic, what if there is more than they can handle? and if I remember the map right, how come no one is patrolling the north east section?"

"Haha, Negi-kun, not to sound arrogant or anything but we're all professional mages, a couple of low level demons or evil spirits aren't exactly hard to eliminate. As for why no one patrols the north east sector... let's just say that there is a person that lives in that sector that eliminates anything that crosses into it. So we just have to defend 2 or 3 sectors ourselves."

"So I guess when we patrol we'll be splitting up to cover the north west and south east sectors before moving towards the south west sector and then repeating it?"

"Hm... that would work, but we can't exactly leave one sector undefended for too long or else the spirits will start entering en masse."

"Ah... is that why I was assigned the last shift?"

Takamichi paused at this. "Negi-kun?"

"It's because I specialize in long range demolition isn't it? With my skill set, I can practically snipe them off."

Takamichi had nothing to say.

"Oh well... it's too bad."

"Negi-kun?" At Takamichi's questioning tone, Negi smiled at him.

"If I had known I would be sniping them off, I would've brought something that would've been less conspicuous then firing on a beam of light or shooting lightning spears at them."

Takamichi rose an eyebrow at that. "You're not mad Negi-kun?"

"Hm? Why would I be?"

"You know? Assigning you as a living artillery?"

"Ah. That. Don't worry about it. It's something that I'm used to by now." Negi smiled ruefully.

"Seem's like you've been through a lot huh Negi-kun?"

Negi smiled at Takamichi "Of course! but I'm sure I'll change more as time goes on. After all I want to try something new instead of always staying in the back and chanting spells."

"Haha, seems like you're thinking of picking up close combat?"

"Yea, Chamo did say that I was the embodiment of a wizard right now."

"Speaking of the guy, where is he? I thought he'd always be with you."

"Ah..., he had stuff to take care of in Mundus Magicus before he could return."

"How bout we get a drink and you can tell me about the adventures you had in Mundus Magicus while we wait for our shift?"

"Sure, let's go! Though aren't I underage?"

"Haha, don't worry about it, we won't be drinking alcohol."

With that they headed towards the commercial district.

...

"So what do you think of your first day on patrol Negi-kun?"

"Eh, it wasn't that bad, it's actually a lot easier then going on treasure hunts in Mundis Magicus."

"Haha, I'm still surprised that you got trapped in a room that wouldn't let you out until you said please."

"Hey! It wasn't my fault the inscription said, 'Taboo word:Please. If you wish to get out, ask nicely.'" Negi cried indignantly.

"Well I'm sure, you're feeling tired. Why don't you head on back home and rest for the day?"

"Huh, you're right, I seem to be feeling a bit tired. But Takamichi, what happens when the school term starts. Won't it be harder to patrol when we're teaching as well?"

At Negi's question Takamichi nodded. "Yea, it'll be harder to patrol, that's why Konoeman-san pays some of the students to patrol or some volunteer to improve their skills."

Negi paused at this. "'improve their skills'? Just what are the students doing here?"

"Haha, you would be surprised Negi-kun. Why in your class there's a robot and even a ninja."

"What! A ninja? a robot?"

"Haha, was it that too much for you?"

Negi just sulked. "Is this what Chamo meant by Japan being the holy land of perverts and the home of the super natural?"

Takamichi developed a sweat drop. "Just what kind of misconceptions of Japan do you have Negi-kun?"

"Err... Chamo called Japan the holy land of perverts, home of the supernatural, Masters of anime, and a whole lot of other things."

Takamichi thought about it for a second and couldn't help but agree. Japan had the highest amount of supernatural activity and the second would be in America followed by Egypt. Japan also had a very prominent porn industry and in a way they were the forefathers of anime...

Takamichi just hung his head.

Negi yawned into his hand. "Huh, it looks like I'm more tired than I thought. Looks like I'll take your advice and head home and rest for a bit."

"Right Negi-kun, enjoy your stay in Mahora."

"We'll see won't we?"

With that Negi walked off. There were no trains that dropped him off near his home so Negi had to walk all the way from the edge of Mahora to the other side to reach home. A trip that would take him almost an hour and a half.

* * *

**AN: Hm... I wonder how long I can keep this streak up. Feels like I'm burning out, but oh well. Next chapter should be another filler before canon time starts. From there it'll probably slowly show small divergences until it completely goes haywire at the festival. That is the arc that I got most confused in. Laters.**

**Edit: Feb 12,2013 Fixed the season. Apparently Japanese school system makes it so that school starts in April and then to June followed by 2 month of break before classes resume in the fall. Means that Negi will be the teacher of 2-A right off instead of in the middle of the semester.**

**Edit2: Feb 12,2013 Fixed the issue regarding his age that n0mstar had brought up.**


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a week since Negi had shown up to Mahora and he was still amazed by how active the city could be despite most of its student population being on break or vacationing somewhere. Of course by now he had adjusted to the nightly patrols he and Takamichi went on and he learned how to subtly fire off his arrows of light so that it wouldn't alert anyone if they happened to look up into the skies. Though there was news that Mahora had seen an influx of falling stars.

Negi was still exploring around Mahora familiarizing himself with the area. He was surprised that there were ancient ruins so close to the World Tree. Apparently before Mahora's inhabitants had settled in there was a civilization that predated them in setting up their homes near the World Tree.

So far he had visited the Tatsumiya Shrine, Academy City Bridge, St. Ursula Girls High and the Mages Headquarters located under Mahora Academy itself. He was surprised to hear that the school he would be teaching in was apparently a branch of a whole. It seemed that the entire Mahora Academy was spread out across the entire city. Meaning there were a lot more schools with magic teachers. Mahora City was basically the headquarters of the Kanto Magic Association and the dean was the chief of said organization.

Another thing was that every 2 months a different school would be patrolling the barrier. Right now it was Mahora Academy for middle school girls turn to patrol. After that it would be Saint Ursulas Elementary School that patrolled, then Mahora University, then Saint Ursulas High School for boys, followed by Saint Ursulas High School for girls, then Mahora Academy for middle school boys before it cycled back to Mahora Academy for middle school girls and then the cycle would repeat itself.

The schools were scattered throughout the entirety of Mahora City, so segregation between different sexes were high, though they could meet up for club activities which were co-ed and open to all students residing in Mahora.

Today he would be checking out Library Island since he had been warned not to approach the north east sector of Mahora and he didn't think he wanted to see the student dorms since it was mostly for middle school students. Which happened to be a majority of girls. Nope, no way was he approaching that place unless absolutely required.

So here he was in front of Library Isle and he had to say it was a lot smaller than he had thought. He had heard stories that it was the largest library in the world but from outside, it seemed like a normal library. Walking towards the front entrance he hoped that the inside was better then the outside.

When he got inside he was surprised to find a map pasted right next to the inner entrance of the library. Taking a glance at it, his eyes widened. Apparently the reason the library looked so small on the outside was because the entire structure was built underground and and stretched all the wall towards Mahora city. Negi didn't know how long he had stared at the map in disbelief.

Eventually he managed to ear his eyes away from the map and at the bottom he saw a foot-note that read 'this is not the complete map and documentation of the library is still in progress'. After reading that he thought he might've underestimated the greatest library in the world a bit too much.

Walking through the inner entrance he couldn't help but stiffen once he felt the amount of magic that was in the air. It was as if he had stepped into a generator that pumped out magic. There was so much in the air that he was amazed the bookcases weren't being levitated off the floor.

Looking down at the floor, he felt incredible amounts of magical energy radiating from deeper into the library. Slowly making his way down, he felt his trap sense acting up. Frowning at this he wondered why his senses honed from a year of treasure hunting was acting up in a library of all places. Shrugging it off for now but making sure to keep a careful eye out he slowly descended into the library.

However once he got to the bottom floor of the library which was 3 floors down, he hit a metaphorical dead end. There was no other way left to go down. So either there was a hidden entrance somewhere close by, or there was another way to enter the lower part of the library hidden underground. He couldn't recall any details of the map out front but he guessed that was because it was just a general layout of the library and not an in-depth map of every nook and cranny it could have.

Giving it up for now, he left and headed back towards the mainland.

...

Walking towards the street car _Chao __Bāo_ _Zi_, Negi remembered when he entered it again with his child persona. It seemed that Yotsuba was more perceptive than he thought. When he entered as a child, she seemed to zero in on him before giving him a nod and going back to work. Negi had frozen up when her gaze seemed akin to that of a hawk zooming in on its prey. Luckily she didn't call him out and when he gave her his order, she just made the dish and presented it to him with the same smile the first time he ate here.

Walking in this time he sat at the same stool he had always used. Asking Yotsuba to surprise him, he patiently waited for the food to get done. It seemed that Yotsuba had the uncanny ability to discern what kind of foods went well with the persons current mood and Negi was slowly but surely getting addicted to her cooking. Though he didn't completely understand her way of speaking yet. She seemed to express herself through her facial expressions and Negi still had a hard time understanding her but he was sure he would get better with time.

Looking around he seemed to notice that the waiter had changed again. It seemed that every 3 days or so the waiter would change. So far he had seen a blonde bronze-skinned foreigner who seem to have trouble speaking Japanese and a girl that seemed to speaking about various studies regarding the food she was delivering. This one was girl with green hair and some sort of long ear accessory. Though her monotone way of speaking was rather strange.

When his food was done, he tore his eyes away from the strange waiter and turned towards the food that was in front of him. Muttering 'Itadakimasu' as was customary in Japan before eating, he started slowly eating the fried rice presented to him. Taking a moment to savor the taste he couldn't help but let out a satisfied sigh.

Once he was done he couldn't help but let out another satisfying sigh. Asking for the bill, he paid before getting up and walking out. On his way out though, he bumped into someone. Quickly apologizing he continued on his way. As he did though, he missed the wide-eyed look the person he bumped into shot him.

Chao Lingshen was a very hard person to surprise, but the person who just walked out of the restaurant definitely surprised her. She had been expecting him to show up, but definitely not so ahead of schedule. Looking back at Yotsuba, she called out, "Hey Yotsuba-chan, do you know who it was that just left?"

Yotsuba in turn just gave Chao an answer in her own way. When Chao 'heard' Yotsuba answer her suspicions were confirmed that the person that just left was indeed Negi Springfield, she pulled out her Cassiopeia that had brought her to this time. Staring at it intensely, she ignored the weird looks she was getting and concluded that there was no mistake whatsoever with it. That left her with more questions than answers. For one just why was Negi-sensei here so early? Another would be how she hadn't noticed him at all considering he had been coming here to eat everyday for the past week. Idly wondering just what happened to have cause such a crazy change in the timeline, Chao left the cart as well to see if she had accidently made a wrong turn when she traveled back through time, she completely forgot about what she had originally intended to do at _Chao __Bāo_ _Zi_.

...

After Negi had left _Chao __Bāo_ _Zi,_ he had decided to wander around Mahora instead of visiting new places. It seemed that every time that he had gone there for lunch, he would always come out feeling extremely relaxed and lazy, it was as though the good had a sort of relaxant inside it, but knew that couldn't be true considering how pumped some of the people who ate there became.

Walking around randomly Negi idly wondered if this was going to be a common occurrence every time he ate at _Chao __Bāo_ _Zi._ Shrugging internally he continued walking where ever his body was taking him while ignoring the looks some of the residents were shooting at him. To them it must've been strange to see a child walking around alone with such a serene look on his face.

By the time that Negi came back from his dazed state he had walked into a part of Mahora that he never explored. However when he looked around he almost felt like squealing. Around him were stores that all seemed to sell books of some kind. If there was one way to appeal to Negi it would be to cater to his inner bibliophile and right now Negi was in heaven, everywhere he looked there were books of all kinds, ranging from the popularized manga that Japan was common for, books on Japanese mythology, history, romance novels and a whole slew of other categories. He couldn't keep his eyes from wandering everywhere.

In fact he wasn't even watching where he was going until he felt he bumped into something. Concentrating on what it was he bumped into he noticed that it was a girl. Luckily for him, due to his short stature as a child and her being much taller then him, she didn't fall. Quickly apologizing for bumping into her, he tried side-stepping past her. However a hand gripped his shoulder as he passed.

"Hey! What are you doing here alone? This isn't a place for a child." The girl seemed genuinely concerned.

Inwardly sighing at being called a child again, he was starting to regret not being able to stay in his teen form, not because he didn't want to but because of all the stares he got when he was. It was much worse then the stares he got as a child so that factored him into staying in his child form more and didn't forget the experience of trying to get through airport security when he came, apparently the customs officers didn't believe for a second that he was a 9 year old when they took one look at him in his teen form, so he had to resort to drastic measures and erase their memories and change into his child form before trying again. Luckily for him the airport was empty when he came around so he didn't cause a scene. Though he did have to contact Chamo to hack into the airport security to remove the debacle that occurred. Luckily for him again, Chamo was on when he sent the message so that was resolved quickly without him causing an international accident.

"Um... I was just wandering around looking at all the bookstores ojou-san."

The girl blinked, before looking around. "Umm... Yea... Bookstores... kid do you even know where you are?"

This time it wasn't Negi's turn to blink. Looking around, he seemed to see a lot of stores that had a lot of _questionable _merchandise. "Uh... no?"

The girl nodded. "That's right, you don't know where you are, so turn around and walk somewhere else, you're still much to young to walk into this life, so turn back. Now."

Negi blinked again. "Why?"

The girl just sighed. "Look kid, its for your own good that you don't walk any deeper into this place until your older."

Blinking again Negi slowly tilted his head in confusion. Seeing him do that, the girl just sighed again and starting moving closer towards him. When he was close enough to him, she grabbed the back of his shirt and start dragging him backwards.

"Ah! let me go!"

"No way kid, like I said you're still much too young for this place."

As he was being dragged away, he noticed that they were attracting a lot of attention especially with him struggling to escape. Seeing all the attention on him, he quickly stopped struggling and hoped that they would stop staring.

Before he knew it he was back in the restaurant district as evidenced by all the restaurants they were passing. Soon enough the girl stopped and turned on Negi. "Now kid, shoo, go home and don't go over to that place you just left until you're much older."

Negi just tilted his head again. "Why?"

He watched the girl seemed to shiver for no reason and then she just said, "Look kid, that place is not a place you should be going to until you're at least 5 years older."

"Why?"

Before the girl could respond, she was interrupted by a voice. "Oi, Paru! What are you doing here. I thought you were going to be at doujin district for the day."

Both turned there heads to see two girls heading towards them. Both had purplish hair and while one had her hair done up in a braid that reached past her shoulders, the other had neck length hair and bangs that covered half her face which Negi subconsciously labeled as 'very dangerous'. While the first one approached them, the second seemed to hide behind the first.

"Oh! Yuecchi! Honya-chan! what a coincidence!" the girl Paru seemed to say.

"You still haven't told us why you're here, I thought you wouldn't be leaving your precious doujin district until the day was out?" Completely ignoring Paru's answer, the person called Yuecchi seemed to ask her question again while the person called Honya continued to hide behind her.

"Oh! You see I have a reason for that!" At this Yuecchi looked interested while Honya seemed to look towards Paru.

"Oh? Do tell, we would love to know reason for why the creature known as Paru would actually willingly leave her precious doujin time." the girl said in a deadpan voice.

"Oh Yuecchi! I feel so hurt! You see the reason I actually took time off was to save this poor boy from entering the district of masculine romance at such a tender age." At this she flourished her arm in Negi's direction. At this, Yuecchi seemed to finally notice Negi and Honya seemed to try and hide behind Yuecchi again.

She took one look at Negi before she tuned back to Paru with her deadpan stare and said, "I see..."

Paru just looked indignant. "Hey! What's with that look that says 'I don't believe you at all!', do you think I'm a shotacon like our class rep!?"

They both stared into each other, one with an indignant expression and the other with a deadpan expression, while the third person seemed to try and prevent things from escalating further.

It was Negi who broke the dead lock with an innocent question. "Um... Excuse me? But whats masculine romance and a shotacon?"

At this, all three seemed to stare at him before Yuecchi said with a deadpan expression, "Oh would you look at that, I just remembered something I need to do, come on let's go Nodoka." With that she and the third girl seemed to get ready to leave.

However Paru quickly grabbed onto both of them. "Oh no! You are not leaving me alone in this mess you helped create!"

By now a crowd had slowly formed and everyone was muttering to others and Negi heard some say, 'how atrocious, corrupting such a young child', or 'Should we call the police? It seems like we have some pedophiles running around.', Negi understood what was being said, but he didn't know what they mean. Looking back at the trio, both Paru and Yuecchi seemed to be in a deadlock while the third seemed to notice they attracting a crowd and was shrinking into herself, clearly uncomfortable with the attention. Frowning at this Negi decided to interfere.

"Um... You're kind of making a crowd." At this both Paru and Yuecchi seemed to notice that they had indeed attracted a crowd of onlookers. Both seemed to flush and they quickly grabbed him for some reason and made a mad dash out of the crowd.

Negi didn't know why they dragged him along but he just went with it since he didn't really have anything planned for this part of the day. Soon enough they stopped by a few benches near the river that separated the School District from the other districts. As the 3 girls seemed to gasp for breath on the bench, Negi just looked at the river as they tried to regain there breath.

However when they did it was Paru who spoke up first, "Ahh! I can't believe this Paru-sama was embarrassed by a crowd of all things!"

Yueechi spoke up next. "I believe this is karmic retribution for what you have caused in the past."

Honya just remained quiet.

"Ano... Why was I dragged along?" As Negi spoke, the trio seemed to notice that he was with them as well.

Honya quickly hid behind Yuecchi again and Paru just remained where she was sitting on the bench.

"Well kid, you looked lost so I just subconsciously dragged you along?"

Negi was speechless, he looked lost? How did she figure that? However before he could retort, Paru spoke up.

"So kid, where are your parents, shouldn't they be looking for you or you looking for them?"

Negi just smiled. "Ah, my parents aren't here so I don't need to look for them."

The trio just blinked owlishly. Eventually it was Paru who spoke up again. "What do you mean they aren't here? If they aren't how did you get here?"

Negi blinked at the odd question. "Um.. they aren't here as in they aren't here? As for how I got here, I took the train from Tokyo after getting off at the Narita international airport?"

Again the trio blinked. It was Yuecchi who spoke up next."So you came here alone?"

Negi nodded at this.

There was silence followed by a loud cry of "WHAT!"

Negi blinked at this.

"What do you mean you're here alone! Even I wouldn't do that to a child!" that was Paru.

"Hm, Could this be a case of throwing a child into the lions den scenario?" There was Yuecchi.

Honya was still silent.

"Hey kid, how old are you again?"

Negi blinked at the odd question. "I'm 9-years old."

"GAH! A 9 year old? What kind of parents do you have?! Are they not worried at all?!" At this Negi thought, 'the kind that are missing and probably not."

"So you live alone?" Yuecchi asked. Negi nodded again.

Seeing Negi nod, Yuecchi was silent before she too nodded. "Paru, looks like I'm agreeing with you for once."

Honya seemed think the same as well, but Negi couldn't tell. However further questioning was halted when he heard someone calling.

"Oiii, Negi-kun, what a coincidence!" Turning to the source of the call, Negi saw Takamichi waving at him with Shizuna-sensei right next to him as they approached there position.

The trio of girls turned towards the call and saw their homeroom teacher Takahata-sensei waving at them and the school guidance counselor Shizuna-sensei walking towards them. However there minds finally caught up with what Takamichi just said. Turning to the newly-named Negi, they wondered how he knew there sensei.

Negi in turned waved back and called, "Hey Takamichi! You on break from work right now?"

"Haha. Why do you presume to think I'm on break? I could be taking the day off too you know."

Negi smiled at this. "If you were, you wouldn't be wearing a suit now would you? After all you prefer to wear normal clothes when you're not working right?"

Takamichi smiled at this. "So you remember that huh?"

Negi then turned to Shizuna and bowed. "Hello to you as well Shizuna-sensei."

She returned the gesture. "Hello to you as well Negi-sensei."

At this the trio of forgotten girls seemed to snap out of their daze.

"Takahata-sensei, you know this kid?" Paru asked. Both Yuecchi and Honya seemed interested as well.

Takamichi finally noticed the trio behind Negi. Blinking he said, " Ah, Ayase-san, Miyazaki-san, Saotome-san, I apologize for not noticing you."

Paru just laughed it off. "Ahahaha, its nothing sensei, so how do you know this kid? And why did Shizuna call him sensei?" At this both Yuecchi and Honya looked interested as well.

Takamichi just smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah yes... Negi-kun here will be starting as a teacher this coming semester, so he'll be your future English teacher and Homeroom teacher.

At this both the trio of girls and Negi let out an "Eh?"

Eventually Paru regained control of her mouth first. 'Eh? Sensei are you serious? How can he be our new english teacher? He's still a kid you know!" Both Yuecchi and Honya seemed to agree. Though Negi remained silent.

Takamichi just held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Now now Saotome-san, I assure you that Negi-kun here is more then qualified to be teaching as an English teacher, in fact I would say that he is smarter than me in that department." Negi seemed to blush at the praise Takamichi was giving him.

The trio didn't look assured, so Takamichi just went with what was on there records. "Trust me Saotome-san. Negi-kun here graduated from Oxford University at the young age of 9 and was hailed as a genius." 'though it's more right to say age 14 since he is biologically older' he added in his mind.

This time the trio looked at the blushing Negi in amazement. Takamichi spoke up again. "Now while we're at it why don't you introduce yourself to your future class?"

Negi nodded at this. He bowed at them. "Hello, my name is Negi Springfield and I will be your teacher for this semester, I hope we get along."

The trio seemed to be speechless before Paru spoke up. "Oh! I'm Saotome Haruna, seat 14! but you can call me by my nickname, Paru, nice to meet you!"

Quickly following suit both Yuecchi and Honya introduced themselves. "Ayase Yue, seat 4."

"U-um, M-miyazaki N-nodaka, seat 27, n-nice to meet you."

After they were properly introduced Negi turned towards Takamichi. "So what were you doing with Shizuna-sensei, Takamichi?"

When she heard this Paru gained a grin on her face while Nodoka and Yue looked at Shizuna with interest.

"Ahhh. We bumped into each other on our way to lunch so we decided to go together." Negi nodded at this and was going to ask something else.

"Oh!? Is this a date!?" Paru cried out.

Instantly all eyes were on her. Negi tilted his head in confusion, while the rest looked at her with wide-eyes.

Both Nodoka and Yue cried out. "Paru!", Paru just looked at them. "What?"

"That's rude!", Nodoka quickly started apologizing while Yue forced Paru to do the same.

Takamichi just gave them placating gestures while Shizuna was giggling into the back of her hand.

"um... whats a date? And Paru-san you still haven't told me what masculine romance is or what's a shotacon."

Again all eyes moved to Negi before they all zeroed in on Paru.

Paru looked distinctly nervous with all the eyes on her. "Fufufu, Saotome-san, let's move this conversation elsewhere for now." With the Shizuna grabbed paru's shoulder and slowly led her off while the other two followed. They stopped a good distance away and suddenly Negi felt a oppressive aura pass through him. Looking back at the source, Negi saw Shizuna with a demonic look on her face.

Turning to Takamichi who was looking distinctively uncomfortable, he asked again.

Takamichi just thought 'I _cannot_ be having this conversation.', "Negi-kun, I'll tell you when you're older."

"But I am older Takamichi! Paru-san just said that I had to be at least 15 years old and I technically almost am! Surely I'm old enough."

Takamichi couldn't help but curse at Saotome in the back of his mind. "Negi-kun, trust me, I'll tell you when you're older. For now just drop it."

"But Takamichi, some of those words she used were used by Chamo as well! And he promised he would tell me when I was older and I was but he said I still needed to be older."

Takamichi blessed his stars when he heard this. "Chamo-kun is right Negi kun, you do have to be older. So for now please just drop the subject."

Negi seeing Takamichi looking at him with such a serious face, dropped it but made a note to ask again when he was sure he was 15.

Once that was done, they both watched Shizuna return with the trio in turn, with Paru very subdued.

"Well Saotome-san, what do you have to say to Negi-sensei?"

Paru bowed her head at this. "I apologize for trying to destroy your childhood innocence Negi-sensei."

Shizuna nodded her head at this. Negu just looked towards Takamichi again. Seeing his shake his head and mouth 'when you're older'.

"Err... I forgive you Paru-san?"

Instantly Paru was all smiles again. "Thank you very much! Now if you will excuse us, we have a lot to think about." With that she dragged Yue and Nodoka away.

Negi turned back to Shizuna and Takamichi. "Is she always this cheerful?"

Shizuna just giggled while Takamichi looked sheepish. "Yea, you'll find that much of your class is the same. So be prepared Negi-kun."

"Hai!" With that Negi bowed his head and said, "then I will take my leave for now, see you later Takamichi."

With that he walked off leaving Shizuna and Takamichi alone. Eventually Shizuna spoke up, "he's so mature for one so young."

Takamichi just nodded. "You have no idea. Shall we go get some lunch before returning to work? We still have 30 minutes left."

Shizuna nodded, "Sounds like a good idea Takahata-sensei."

...

After Paru, Yue and Nodoka had separated from Negi, Shizuna , and Takamichi, they had walked a few blocks away before Paru forced them into hiding and waited there. Eventually Yue spoke up. "What are we doing Paru."

Paru just shushed her. "Waiting for Negi-sensei of course."

Yue raised an eyebrow. "You're already acknowledging him as our sensei?"

"Of course, how many child geniuses do you come across in your life? It's like a manga where the teacher is a secret agent sent to protect a student from a plot that surrounds them."

Yue just deadpanned. "You're overactive imagination is truly something to be feared Paru. What are you thinking Negi-sensei is? A child soldier?"

Paru just shrugged. "I smell a plot afoot!"

"Truly outrageous." Yue deadpanned.

"Now now Yuecchi, don't be a spoilsport now."

"A-ano...", Both Yue and Paru turned from their conversation. "Yes? Nodoka/Honya-chan?"

"Negi-sensei is moving." She pointed out of their hiding spot and indeed Negi had already walked past there hiding spot and was heading towards the school district.

"Alright team. Move out!" With that Paru dragged Yue and Nodoka along, keeping a careful eye on Negi who was walking without a care.

"So where do you think he's going right now?" Paru asked.

"Dunno, why do you care?"

"Isn't it obvious Yuecchi! He's going to be our new sensei, its obvious why I would want to know him better." Yue just rolled her eyes.

"What do you think Honya-chan?"

At this Nodoka looked surprised. "E-eh? Me?"

"Of course Honya-chan, I noticed how you kept staring at him when we were introducing ourselves. Has our little Bookstore finally found someone she likes?"

At Paru's teasing tone, Nodoka blushed, not that it was easy to tell, with her bangs covering half her face. Yue just smacked the back of Paru's head. "No teasing Nodoka, Paru."

"Aw come on don't be a spoil sport Yuecchi."

"A-ano..." hearing Nodoka speak again, both Yue and Paru turned to her with a questioning look. Nodoka just pointed.

"N-negi-sensei is heading towards Library Island."

At this, both of them turned to see that they were indeed following Negi to Library Island.

Quickly following behind him, the trio wondered why he was heading towards it.

...

Negi had decided to give the Library Island another go before he headed back to his cottage. After being introduced to three of his future students he felt himself refreshed for some reason. And now he was itching to see if he could find the entrance to the lower levels of the library. Though he did feel a constant stare at him as he walked, though he ignored it because it wasn't hostile.

Once he reached the map again at the entrance. He looked over it for any signs that might give him a clue to how to go deeper. However he was interrupted from his task when he heard someone calling for him.

"Oi! Negi-sensei! What a coincidence!" Turning to see who called him, he was surprised to see that it was the three students he had just been introduced to. While moving towards him Paru was waving and Yue seemed to be following with a bored expression while Nodoka seemed to be hiding behind Yue.

"Ah. Paru-san, Ayase-san, Miyazaki-san." He gave each of them a nod. "What are you doing here if I may ask?"

Paru just laughed. "Ahahaha, we're part of the Library Exploration club, so its obvious that we would be here from time to time."

Negi tilted his head in confusion. "Library Exploration club?"

Paru nodded. "Yea it's a club comprised of students from elementary schools all the way to universities and teachers from the schools as well trying to remap the entire complex."

Negi looked interested at his. "You mean they made a club to map the entire library? What happened to the old one when it was first constructed?"

It was Nodoka who spoke up surprising all three of them. "A-ano, t-the old map was lost when the library went under expansion plans when it was found it was too small to contain all the texts that were showing up." When she finished she noticed that all eyes were on her and she quickly hid herself behind Yue.

"Ah. I see. Thank you for the answer Miyazaki-san." Sending her a smile, he was confused why she seemed to hide further behind Yue.

Eventually it was Paru who decided to break the awkward moment. "So what are you doing here Negi-sensei?"

Negi seemed to remember what he was doing before at this. "Ah... I was looking for the entrance to go deeper into the library. When I came this morning I couldn't get past the 3rd level."

At this Paru seemed to nod. "Ah. that's to be expected. The entrances to the lower libraries are well concealed, so you would have to know where to look if you want to go deeper."

At this Negi seemed to deflate. "I-i see."

Paru seeing him deflate just laughed. "Haha! Don't worry Negi-sensei, when we have time we'll be sure to invite you when we have our scheduled club meeting sometime so you can explore with us."

At this Negi perked up. "R-really?"

"Haha. Of course!"

Negi beamed at this. "Thank you Paru-san, Ayase-san , Miyazaki-san."

Seeing him acting so much like the kid he was, some of there worries regarding him as there teacher evaporated.

Eventually it was Nodoka who spoke up. "Ano, Yue-chan, Paru-chan we should get going soon."

At this both Paru and Yue remembered they were suppose to be somewhere.

"AH! My precious doujin!" with that Paru ran off while apologizing for having to leave so suddenly.

Yue on the other hand just pulled out some sort of drink and started sipping it. "Ah... I forgot. Please excuse us Negi-sensei, hopefully we'll see each other again, if not then we'll see you in class." With that they both left as well, but not before Nodoka bid Negi good bye as well.

Watching them go, Negi couldn't help but smile. It seemed that teaching would be a lot more hectic than he thought if this was how only 3 of his students had acted.

Looking at his pocket watch, he noticed that it was approaching 3:30. He guessed it would be a good time to start working on his Mystic Code that he had told Chamo he would be working on. He should also start planning on creating a long-range version of it if he was going to be patrolling like so. With that he started heading back towards him cottage. Unaware of what rumors would be started.

...

Once Paru had returned from the doujin district and Yue and Nodoka returned from what they were doing, they met up at the cafeteria of their dorm, discussing the days events.

As they were eating Paru started off the conversation. "So do you think we'll be okay this year? With a child as our teacher, I'm kinda worried about the long term prospects."

Yue raised an eyebrow at this. "Weren't you speaking highly of him just this afternoon, why the sudden change?"

"Well even though Takahata said that he was a child prodigy that graduated from Oxford University at the age of 9, that means that it was just recently. Also when we were talking with him at the library, it showed that he was still a kid no?"

Yue thought about it and slowly nodded. "I see your point, though it's to be expected. After all it's because he graduated Oxford University at the age of 9 that he can act like a kid."

"Yea and that kind of worries me. Last year we were at the bottom of the class rankings, think we'll stand any chance at all this year?"

"Hm... that's a tough call, on one hand we have a new teacher that's a prodigy, but on the other hand he's also quite inexperienced."

"I know right!" Paru then turned to Nodoka who had been silent. "What do you think Honya-chan?"

"Eh? M-me?"

"Yea, you're the only one who hasn't given us your opinion."

"E-eto... I-I think Negi-sensei will try his best to teach. E-even though he is quite young h-he's still a prodigy, r-right?"

"Hm, I guess that's true, but it seems all we're boiling it down to is that he's a prodigy."

"Requires more research before a decision can be made."

"Right Yuecchi!"

"Still doesn't this mean that Takahata-sensei is being fired if he's no longer our homeroom teacher?"

"E-Eto I don't think so. If T-takahata-sensei was getting f-fired, then shouldn't he a-angry at N-negi-sensei even if he is a kid?"

"Hm, I guess that's right and they both seemed to be old friends if you saw how they were interacting."

"So most likely Takahata-sensei is being reassigned and not fired."

"Hm, sounds about right Yuecchi. But did you see him today? He was with Shizuna-sensei! Do you think they were dating?"

At this, a hand gripped Paru's shoulder in a vice-grip. "Eh? OW! OW! What's going on!?"

As the trio of girls turned to see who was gripping Paru, they were greeted to the sight of a demonic looking Kagurazaku Asuna complete with smoke billowing out of her mouth gripping Paru's shoulder. "What did you say about Takahata-sensei and dating?!"

Here the whole cafeteria paused to watch the spectacle.

"Oi, oi Asuna, you mind letting go? It's really starting to hurt!"

Asuna bared her teeth. "No! Now what were you saying about Takahata-sensei and dating!?"

"Ah! OW! OW! Dammit that hurts! Alright Alright! Today we saw him with Shizuna in the afternoon both heading somewhere together, so we just thought they were dating!" Paru cried out.

Once she heard this, Asuna quickly let go of her vice-grip which Paru gladly started rubbing to get feeling back into her shoulder.

Asuna breathed a sigh of relief."Oh. So he wasn't dating, thank god." Turning back to Paru, she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Ahaha, sorry about that Paru, it seems I don't know my own strength."

Paru just gave her a glare. "Geez Asuna, there's a limit on how bad your selective hearing can be regarding Takahata-sensei."

Asuna just waved it off. With the spectacle over with, the cafeteria went back to eating noisily.

"Well, sorry about that. Later." With that Asuna walked off completely ignoring the glare aimed at her from Paru.

Once she was out of earshot Paru couldn't help but complain. "Geez, that Asuna's selective hearing has gotten worse."

Both Yue and Nodoka had to agree at this. After what they just witnessed it would be pretty hard to deny by anyone.

"Still..." At this Paru gained a mischievous look. "Think we should've told her about how our homeroom teacher for next semester will be changed?" At this, two separate pairs of ears twitched from nearby tables.

Hearing that both Yue and Nodoka paled. "We must absolutely make sure Asuna doesn't find out about it until the start of the semester." Yue declared with Nodoka nodding. "We can absolutely not let _that_ loose on Negi-sensei's first day in class."

This time Paru nodded along with Nodoka.

Again two separate pairs of ears twitched at this.

With that, the trio resumed their conversation of how there days went while two people in the cafeteria had a thoughtful look on their face.

...

When Negi had returned to his cottage, he had immediately opened his laptop to see if he had any new messages. He had a couple from some of Chamo's business clients that were asking when he would be back in the Old World. Negi just sent off his reply before turning to the one's that dealt with himself. Scrolling through them, he noticed that he had emails from Anya and Nekane both detailing how their weeks went. Negi couldn't help but smile as he read Anya's email, it seemed that she had settled well within the local populace of London and was slowly gaining popularity. Nekane's was explaining how she had decided to take up a job at teaching at the magical academy in Wales since she had a lot of free time.

Scrolling through a couple others, he noticed that the Thompson Contender he had ordered would be arriving in 3 days or so at the local Mahora post office near the train station. Returning to the sight that he had ordered his Thompson, he started scrolling through the sniper rifles that would pack quite the punch. Eventually he settled on the PGM Hecate II. While extremely heavy, it suited his style of specializing in demolition, with a couple of runes and certain magic circles, he was sure he could modify it enough to make it into an able Mystic Code like he would the Thompson when it arrived. Then he remembered that since he was in Japan, he should start researching the seals and the charms that they used.

Chamo had explained to him how the magical circles used in Pactio circles premeditated the runes of the west, the circles used in alchemy and the seals used by the east. The different regions just derived their methods from the original circle and called it a branch of their own and from there the modern Pactio circle was reborn into what it was today. He had even gone into how the old Pactio circle was more a Geis type circle where the contractors would honor a pact of some sort, while the modern version was much more lenient with its terms. Though just because they were derived from the old circles didn't mean that Negi would instantly understand them despite his in-depth studies of them. So studying seals while in Japan seemed to be a good idea.

Looking at the time, he noticed that it was nearing 8 PM. Thinking now would be a good time to rest before he went on patrol, Negi went upstairs to his room to sleep until it was time.

In his dreams though, he relived an adventure from his time in Mundus Magicus.

...

_It was a month after Negi had started wandering around Mundus Magicus and he was heading south west towards the city of Triftan with a group of mercenaries. He had joined the caravan as a support-type mage since he was still young and he doubted any of his spells would have any effect on the monsters that roamed the land. Though he was grateful that they had allowed him to hitch a ride, he wished they would stop laughing at him for being such a young mage. Apparently,being hailed as prodigy from the Old World meant nothing to these people. In a way he could understand since they didn't really keep in touch in the Old World except from those who visited. But still did they have to keep bringing it up? It was making him embarrassed._

_They were interrupted though when they heard a cry from the front. The mercanaries quickly moved to their assigned positions while Negi grabbed his staff and got ready to provide covering fire. Quickly muttering his activation key of 'Ras Tel Ma Scir Magister' to get his magic going, he waited for information about what was happening. Soon enough his cart received information that they were slowly being surrounded by a group of Hermitaurs. When Negi asked what they were, the mercenaries just said that they were a type of crab with extremely hard carapaces that could be forged into extremely dense armor. They also attacked just about anything that they came across so it was just their luck they had been found by a group._

_Quickly the caravan was ordered to bunch up so that the mercenaries would be able to defend them better. When they did the mercenaries all surrounded the caravan in defensive postures while Negi and 3 other mages prepared to support the mercenaries up front. As the Hermitaurs slowly closed in, it was the leader of the mercenaries who made the first move._

_"Raaaaa!" Swinging his massive claymore, the leader smacked the Hermitaurs pincer that was raised as if it was going to smash down on them. The leader quickly capitalized on the Hermitaurs stunned state and stabbed his claymore straight through the things mouth. Once it was lodged inside he dragged it down the crabs body. The poor creature died immediately from being cut in half. That seemed to be the signal for the other mercenaries to follow suit while the merchants stayed behind the offensive lines._

_Negi who had watched the leader of the mercenary completely dominate the Hermitaur couldn't help but look around in awe as the mercenaries all engaged the Hermitaurs following their leaders lead and tried attacking through the creatures pincer like mouth since it was a weak point._

_Negi was quickly snapped out his stupor when he heard one of his fellow mages cry out just as they released their spells. "Snap out of it newbie and start supporting."_

_Quickly getting his head back in the game, Negi started chanting as well. 'Septemdecim Spiritus Lucis. Sagitta Magica! Series Lucis! (17 spirits of Light. Magic Archer! Barrage of 17 arrows of light!)' firing off his spell, he watched as they all homed in on one of the Hermitaurs that was slowly moving closer. However he was shocked when most of the arrows glanced off its shell while the others just left cut marks all over them._

_"Oi newbie, what are you doing?! Didn't you hear that there carapace is extremely dense? If you're going to use Sagitta Magica of all things, make sure its above 40!"_

_Hearing his fellow supporter give him this piece of information, Negi couldn't help but gulp. That was a pretty high number for someone who had just gotten out of the magic academy a few months ago._

_Nevertheless, now that he knew what he had to do, he was more then prepared for it._

_'Quinquaginta tres Spiritus Lucis. Sagitta Magica! Series Lucis!(53 spirits of Light. Magic Archer! Barrage of 53 arrows of Light!)' Watching his barrage of arrows strike the Hermitaur he let out of sigh of relief as he watched it drop onto the ground. Quickly muttering the same chant he kept firing of Magic Archers at the Hermitaurs that were slowly approaching._

_By the time they were done, the group of 10 mercenaries and 3 other mages along with Negi were tired. They must've taken out at least 30 of them and that was a lot for them. However the leader of the mercenaries seemed to be looking out into the desert with a frown. When one of the merchants had asked what was the problem he had given his answer. _

_"It's strange that so many Hermitaurs would gather to attack just one small caravan. Even ignoring the fact that they attacked anything, it's strange that despite it being a group, there was no leader commanding them. Unless..." Trailing off the merchant starting looking nervous as the mercenary kept muttering to himself._

_He then shouted out the others. "Men get ready! If they had such a large group, then no doubt the leader is still out their somewhere since it wasn't with this group! Stay on guard! You merchants start piling their carapaces onto the caravans. They'll fetch a nice price when we can harvest them._

_Everyone quickly followed the order. He was a leader for a reason._

_Once everything was packed, they started moving again with a level or wariness._

_As they moved, Negi remained silent until Chamo who had been silent throughout the whole trip so far finally spoke up._

_"Oi, 'Tensai', we'll have to start getting used to you firing off high level spells or low level spells in quick succession soon. Or at least get you used to simplified casting or even speed casting."_

_Turning to Chamo, Negi asked why._

_"I was observing your fight compared to the other mages." At this he gestured to the 3 other mages who were keeping a wary eye around them. "Compared to them who used simplified casting, you're chanting speed was extremely slow and by the time you finished your casting they already moved onto another. Also the moment you fire off your spell you waited for the result. They just kept on casting. So we'll have to work on a lot of stuff to get you up to their level."_

_Negi couldn't help but hang his head at this. It seemed that the mercenaries had been right. Even though he was hailed as a prodigy in the Old World, compared to Mundus Magicus, he was like a newborn fish that just learned to breathe._

_Chamo saw the look. "Don't worry bout it bro, with me supervising your training, you'll get up their in no time. After all you're 'Tensai' right?"_

_Negi just smiled at his friends encouragement. Turning his attention back to the front of the caravan, he started keeping an eye on his surroundings while keeping his magic circulating._

_When they neared an oasis, the mercenaries all cheered, though it was only a couple of them. The rest were looking at it warily. The merchants they were escorting eventually spoke up. "Why aren't we moving any closer to the oasis, Canis? Surely we can let out Domo's drink up."_

_"It's not that. It's that Hermitaurs normally make their homes near oasis's and seeing as we just got through 30 of them. So either there is more lying in wait, or there boss is here."_

_At Canis's explanation the merchant quickly moved back._

_"Mages! give us some wind and see if we can see any of them hiding under the sand."_

_Negi and the other 3 mages quickly stepped up. Negi had already started casting the moment he start moving up. So he was done at about the same time the other 3 had started theirs. 'Flans Saltatio Pulverea!(Blow forth Dancing Dust!)' and a mix of other wind spells blew outwards throwing up tons of sand near the oasis. Though when the dust cleared, standing in front of them was another Hermitaur except it was larger than the others by at least half there size._

_"Shit! It's a Daimyo Hermitaur! men up front! Mages, get ready for hard hitting spells, Barrages won't work on this one! Men we're playing distraction while the boys in the back will try and snipe it off! Get the caravans away! This thing can leap pretty far when it wants!"_

_Negi quickly starting chanting. '__Unus fulgor concidens noctem, in mea manu ens inimicum edat. Fulguratio Albicons! (Bolt of light which cleaves the dark night, reside in my hand and devour the enemy. White Lightning!)' Once he was done he slowly started taking aim, being careful not to aim at the mercanaries. Soon enough the leader called for a retreat so that the mages could fire off their spells._

_Three different versions of 101 arrows of convergence were fired off along with Negi's white lightning._

_The three 101 arrows of convergence all made impact with the hard carapace of the Daimyo Hermitaur, while Negi's white lightning hit it full in its chest. _

_The leader quickly shouted out, "Nice job newbie! Alright men! It's stunned make sure to employ hit and run tactics! Aim for its eyes,mouth and joints! Make sure you watch out for when it looks like it will counter attack!" With that the 10 mercenaries all started hacking and slashing at the stunned creature. After about 3 seconds of all out attacking, it managed to overcome its stunned state and started wildly swinging around its pincers though they had quite a few cuts on the hard carapace._

_The mercenaries quickly retreated while the three mages started firing off lower level magic archers, Negi was charging up another white lightning hoping it would be able to stun it again. Taking careful aim again, Negi waited until it's pincers weren't blocking his aim. When he saw his chance he released it and watched as it flew towards flailing crab. However it seemed that it remembered what happened the last time it was hit by one. _

_It jumped high into the air with surprising speed that belied its height and weight. As it prepared to fall Chamo quickly whispered into his ear. "This is bad bro, that things enraged as hell right now. It'll most likely aim for you now, so start moving away."_

_Hearing Chamo say that Negi quickly hopped on his staff and started moving away from the group calling them to scatter. Moving low to the ground hoping his beige cloak would conceal him from the eyes of the Hermitaur. As he did so, Chamo's prediction came true as the moemnt the Hermitaur hit the ground again, it jumped up and headed straight for the mages in the back who took a clue when they heard Negi shout out to scatter._

_As the crab jumped again, the mercenaries quickly moved back to defend the mages. As they did that Chamo whispered into his ear again. "Bro, start charging up some spears, whenever it's in the air its pretty vulnerable so that's your best chance to capitalize on it!"_

_Nodding, Negi got off his staff and started charging up two spears. 'Locos umbrae regnans, Scathach, in manum meam det jaculum daemonum cum spinis triginta. Jaculatio Fulagris!(Ruler of the land of shadows, Scathach, grant into my hand your thirty-barbed demonic spear. Thrown Spears of Lightning!)' Materializing both spears that were longer than him by at least three times in both hands, he got into throwing position and waiting for the crab to jump again. He didn't wait long as it jumped again to avoid more of the magic archers that the other mages had thrown. Quickly taking aim, he threw the spear at the crab that just reached the apex of its jump. As with any opponent, being in the air left them vulnerable for a split second, which Negi capitalized on. The spear flew embedded itself straight through the crab and the electricity coursed through its body. Internally frying it. However as it fell, it quickly adjusted so it would land on its feet. When the dust from its fall cleared, it was quite an imposing sight. Even though it had a spear that was twice its body height spear through it, it was still ready to fight._

_Chamo spoke again. "Bro finish it."_

_Nodding at the command, he grabbed his staff that was hovering to the side and started flying towards the stunned Hermitaur._

_The mercenaries finally shook themselves out of their stupor and moved to deal as much damage as possible before Negi arrived while the mages in the back started charging up their Magic Archers. Soon enough the crab shook off its stunned state for the second time and went on a frenzy trying to hit anything._

_However the mercenaries quickly moved out of the way. As Negi quickly approached, Canis shouted out, "Retreat the moment the spear gets through! The mages at the back will finish it!" As the mercenaries roared Negi aimed for its head. While the chest would be just as good, the head would cause it to be stunned longer if not outright kill it._

_The moment he entered piercing range, the mercenaries quickly retreated. Embedding the spear straight through its mouth, Negi himself quickly retreated. Turning around just in time to see the Convergence of Magic Archers hit the Hermitaur in quick succession, blowing off its head from the repeated hits._

_Negi couldn't help but be impressed. Despite all that, the only thing that its carapace showed was the hole in its chest from his throwing spear and numerous cuts from the mercenaries swords. Needless to say there was nothing left of the head after what just happened._

_As Negi flew back to the group, he couldn't help but feel exhausted. Even though he had high magic reserves, that was the 3rd time he had used such high level spells in quick succession. When he got back to the group. The mercenary leader, Canis walked up to him "What did you say your name was before, newbie?"_

_Looking up at the imposing man that led the group, Negi answer in a shaky voice. "Ne-Tensai Negi." He caught himself just in time before saying his real name. Not that it practically wasn't his real name._

_"I see... Well you're not bad kid, a little young and rough around the edges, but I'm sure you'll get better in time RIGHT MEN!?" Shouting out the last part, he was greeted to a chorus of "Yea's!"_

_Canis turned back to Negi. "Well lets hope we get along, Tensai." With that he walked back to the group of mercenaries and quickly started shouting out orders to get the carapace loaded as well and to let the Domo's get a drink from the oasis._

_Negi who stayed their speechless asked Chamo, "What just happened?"_

_Chamo just smirked. "You earned the leaders respect of course. Nice work there 'Tensai'"_

_Glancing at Chamo, Negi said, "You know credit goes to you since you instructed me right?"_

_"Ah. But you're the one who did the work. I just gave you advice. And it's to be expected since I'm you're familiar."_

_"...Thanks Chamo."_

_Chamo just grunted. "Come on, lets get back to the caravan before we get left behind."_

_"Hm."_

* * *

Abruptly waking up. Negi frowned as he felt a disturbance in the air. Looking at the time he noticed it was 1 AM, meaning there was still 3 hours left before it was his shift. Then he felt a power spike go through his cottage. Frowning at this, he got up and grabbed his cloak and staff. Running out through the 2nd floor patio he jumped over the railing and start flying towards the source of the power spike on his staff.

The cloak kept the chill off of him from the evening air. Off in the distance, near the Academy City bridge that separated Mahora from Tokyo was a humongous silhouette of some kind. Quickly heading towards it, he noticed that some people were already attacking it as evidenced by the sparks of fire that danced across the darkness.

Just as he entered the school district, he noticed another power spike. This time coming from the north-eastern part of the school district. Frowning at the cause, he remembered Takamichi mentioning something about the north eastern sector housing a guard of its own. However it seemed he failed to mention that the so called guard seemed to have enough power to level the whole city. Not that the thing that was approaching from the other side of the river couldn't do the same.

Just as he was passing the park area in front of the World Tree, Negi noticed that a few teachers had gathered on the roofs of the nearby buildings and were seemingly observing the situation. Seeing Takamichi among them a ways behind , he changed course to head towards him.

"Hey Takamichi, whats going on? I just felt a power spike that woke me up."

Takamichi hearing Negi speak turned towards him. "Ah... Negi-kun your appearance."

Frowning at his answer, Negi then remembered that he was still in his teen form, quickly transforming into a child again, he repeated his question.

Takamichi just turned back to the spectacle, where 2 new silhouettes had joined the fray while the others who were already there seemed to be retreating. "Well Negi-kun, you're in for quite a treat. It seems that our security guard of the north eastern sector decided she wants to play tonight."

Negi frowned. "She wants to play?" Looking towards the gigantic silhouette that seemed to stop in front of the two, Negi couldn't help but wonder if they were insane.

"Hm... you'll see soon enough Negi-kun."

Soon enough he did. Apparently whatever was happening over there was a one-sided slaughter. With the gigantic thing being the slaughtered. Negi watched as the taller silhouette seemed to aim something before it fired at the thing. Negi had expected what ever was shot to just bounce off the things skin. Instead the moment it made contact with the things skin, the whole world seemed to shatter. At least that's what Negi thought since the sound of breaking glass bombarded his senses even from so far away. What ever the 2nd silhouette did, it seemed it was a prep up for the much smaller silhouette because 2 seconds later, the thing turned into a popsicle before it shattered into large chunks of ice that fell into the lake it came from.

Negi couldn't help from gaping. Apparently whoever the 1st silhouette was, they were packing some serious fire power. The strength of that spell was comparable to that of a high ancient spell and Negi knew those spells were a killer on magical reserves and were incredibly dangerous to cast. He himself still hadn't come close to mastering one and here he was watching whoever that person was use it like it was a walk in the park, if its cackling in the distance was anything to go by. Though the fact that whoever was cackling like that was perhaps a bit touched in the head.

"Won't covering this up be extremely hard? I mean like, there's a lot of miniature icebergs now when there hasn't been any forecasts of snow and I doubt no one heard that deafening sound of breaking glass." Looking around he added another question. "By the way, why does there seem to be no power in the city?"

"Ah. Yes. That. Don't worry about it Negi-kun, the moment that thing broke through the barrier surrounding Mahora was the moment the back up bounded field that muffles sound all over Mahora. As for the icebergs, I'm sure they'll melt soon enough. If not we'll just have to speed up the process. As for why there's no power, its the monthly Mahora black-out."

Negi raised an eyebrow. "A monthly Mahora black-out? Isn't that sort of a liability?"

"Oh no. We have reserve generators that still operate despite the black out so its fine."

He nodded at this. Then turned towards where the slaughter just took place. "So does what happened tonight happen often? Or were you just as surprised?"

"Hm. It happens every now and then but not all the time. Though the times when they do come, sometimes our little security guard isn't there to help out."

"Huh? Why not? Isn't it her duty as a security guard to help out?"

"Er... she has a very specific contract which she abides by?"

"Why are you phrasing that as a question to me? And doesn't that make her temperamental?"

"Haha, I guess you could say that."

"So guess that means that we wait for our shift to begin or do we go help with the clean up?" Off in the distance he could see flames slowly melting the icebergs that were too large to be moved.

"Sounds about right, though you could head back home and rest for another two hours."

"After a spectacle like that, I think I would have a hard time falling back to sleep."

"Haha, witnessing something like that does that to people sometimes I guess."

* * *

**AN: Released this later than I would like, but oh well. I swear when I was thinking this up last night it would be longer, but it turned out to be shorter than I envisioned. Next chapter SHOULD be the start of the school year, though I might change that, still thinking about it. Thank you for those enlightening reviews and I will endeavor to answer them either in PM's, edits or they will show up in later chapters. Laters.**

**Edit: Fixed some spelling mistakes I missed, possibly more will be found. Damn Google suggestions changing my words. Feb 15,2013**


	6. Chapter 6

Negi straightened the tie on his suit once more to calm his nerves. Today was the day he had been both, looking forward to and dreading at the same time. It would his first day as a teacher at the school. Most of his students were at least 6 years older than him, 2 if he wanted to get technical but that didn't make him feel any better. After all how many people were taught by people that were younger than them? Pausing at this thought he shook his head, he could recall plenty of instances in Japanese history and English history where someone younger had ended up teaching someone much older.

Luckily for him, today was just the opening ceremony followed by the introduction of the teachers and then the classes. School would officially start the day after that. so here he was walking towards the school district from his cottage at 5:30 in the morning. It would take an hour and thirty minutes to reach it from where he currently lived and that gave him at least an hour to calm his nerves before the ceremony began and he would be forced to give a speech of some sort.

God just thinking about it was making his nerves even worse. Think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Like the time Negi had first seen his father in action on video. Blowing up a forest because he walked into a tree? He could see where some of his more crazy ideas came from. Shaking his head of such thoughts he continued on his way. Though he noticed an abnormal amount of students seemingly jogging around in a large group shouting out stuff like 'Defeat Ku-Taichou!', 'GUTS!' and a multitude of other unfamiliar terms.

Thinking that he was really lacking in the Japanese department, maybe he should go over some of his material again later. Some of those words he didn't even understand, so maybe he had ended up glossing over it when he first studied the language.

Shrugging again, he arrived at the school. Heading towards the auditorium, he noticed that a few students had already started showing up and were slowly filling up the auditorium. Seeing the rest of the teachers and the dean already up on stage conversing, he headed towards them. The students who were already there shot him curious glances, after all he was a kid in a suit walking towards the stage where all the other teachers were gathered.

"Ho ho, Negi-kun how are you holding up? It is after all your first official day?"

"I'm fine Konoeman-san, just a little nervous is all."

"Ho, that's to be expected Negi-kun, everyone ends up being nervous especially there first day on the job. Just act natural and you'll be fine."

"Hai, Konoeman-san"

Though his nerves were still there, they had calmed down from battering against his rib cage to a slow steady beat, though it sped up every now and then every time Negi's thoughts spiked. Standing next to Takamichi also gave him assurance that he would be fine. Soon enough the auditorium was full of students and the teachers lined themselves up on stage. As Negi looked across the crowd, he saw some familiar faces, namely Yotsuba-san from _Chao __Bāo_ _Zi,_ Paru-san, Ayase-san, and Miyazaki-san. He also saw some of the waiters that worked in _Chao __Bāo_ _Zi _as well, though he didn't get their names.

Once the chatter had quieted down, the dean started his speech about the school year, it's plans, the restrictions, the modifications and a whole slew of other topics that Negi listened intently too. All too soon, he ended his speech and in doing so put Negi on the spot since he was the newest teacher, which meant he would introduce himself first. Taking a breath to calm his nerves, he got up from his seat and stepped up to the podium.

Luckily there was a foot stool prepped up for him. If there wasn't one... he didn't want to think about how he would look when his head barely passed the podium table top.

"Hello, My name is Negi Springfield and as Konoeman-san had said, I'll be the new English teacher starting this semester." At this the whole crowd started muttering to themselves and neighbors. "Now while I may be young, I assure you that I will perform to the best of my ability in making sure that you receive the proper education you feel you deserve. I may be inexperienced but I hope that with your help as well as my fellow colleagues that I will perform satisfactory to your expectations. Thank you."

With that Negi moved away from the podium towards his spot among his fellow teachers. The auditorium was dead quiet, before one person started clapping and then another and soon enough the whole auditorium was clapping. Getting back to his seat, he sat down as gracefully as he could despite sweating bullets on the inside. He had forgotten that crowds could look so intimidating.

Takamichi who say next to Negi congratulated him on his speech. "Nicely said Negi-kun, hopefully you won't be swept away by the antics of your new homeroom hm?"

Negi smiled at the support. As the next teacher went up to reintroduce themselves he hoped that his homeroom class wouldn't be as rowdy as Takamichi had hinted over his 2 week stay here so far.

...

"Can you believe the nerve!" Asuna complained to Konoka Konoe after the opening ceremony had concluded. "I mean really? A kid as our English teacher? Just what was your grandfather thinking when he hired the brat?"

"Now now Asuna, I'm sure grandfather had a good reason for hiring Springfield-sensei."

"Yea, most likely because he's going senile in his old age."

"Asuna! That's mean."

"What! It's true though!" Konoka just sighed at Asuna's attitude.

"Well it doesn't matter! He's only teaching English, so long as I have Takahata-sensei, I don't care about some brat."

"Asuna! He's not a brat, he's Springfield-sensei!"

Asuna snorted. "Please, he's what... 10 years old? In my books that makes him a brat."

Konoka just sighed again. Sometimes she wondered if Asuna's gerontophilia was getting out of hand.

Once they arrived at there homeroom it was Asuna who spoke up. "Well, looks like its time to greet Takahata-sensei now."

With that she slid the door open, only to freeze when she saw who their homeroom teacher was.

"You!" With that she glared at the brat.

...

Negi had been dismissed by the dean and all the teachers were now heading towards there homeroom, though not before Shizuna-sensei shoved their class rosters into their hands. As he made his way to his designated classroom, he took a look through the roster he had been given, as he did, he noticed that there were a couple of familiar faces that he had seen around campus before.

Entering through the front door, Negi saw that he wasn't the first one in the room, though he wondered why a ghost was sitting in a seat on one of the desks. Shrugging it off for now, he sat down at the teachers desk and waited for the rest of the class to slowly trickle in. While waiting he observed the students in front of him that were doing the same to him.

As the rest of his future class trickled in, Negi started to get nervous, so to calm himself, he pulled out a pocketbook that contained most of his ideas that he thought up of from reading random snippets of information from a large selection of books. So far he had quite a few that he could put into practice but lacked the time for it. His current project was the creation of dolls that would serve as his Minister Magi. While he specialized in long range demolition, it meant that he would probably end up spending lots of time chanting, unless he used his pre-loaded bullets, but that took time and he didn't plan on using his pactio considering he wnated to keep the secret for just a bit longer. Hence why he was working on creating dolls, to serve as his attendants or would it be more apt for call them servants? Either way, he was remedying a problem he felt that he had. So far though, he only had a general idea of how such a feat could be achieved, using runes it would be possible to power them, but he would have to rely on alchemy and magical circles to facilitate the creation process. He made a reminder to go ask the dean if he could have access to the material pertaining to Onmyodo and seals of the east.

He was shaken out his ideas when he heard the final bell ring and the door to the classroom open.

"You!" he heard an angry growl from the entryway. Turning towards the source, he saw that it was one of his students- Kagurazaka Asuna, if he remembered correctly grinding her teeth while glaring at him, while next to her Konoe Konoka - the deans grand daughter, was sending him an apologetic look.

"Ah... It seems that you made it just in time. Please take your seat so that we may get this over with Kagurazaka-san, Konoe-san." Kagurazaka just huffed and stomped towards her seat while Konoe just put a hand to her cheek and sighed before doing the same.

Once both were seated he turned towards the class, which he saw was observing him with a very critical look on their faces. Hiding his nervousness, he cleared his throat and started speaking. "Well, I'm sure most of you are skeptical that I'm your homeroom teacher..." Snorts were abound from everywhere in the class, though Negi didn't let that deter him, "Yes, yes, I don't really paint a picture of being able such a job at such a young age, but I assure you that I'm more than qualified." Again there were snorts from around the class, ignoring them Negi continued. "Now, since this is the first day of class and I'm still unsure of the Japanese education system and how it would differ from the English system, lets start off with introductions for now, I'll start. My name is Negi Springfield as you have heard at the opening ceremony. Due to various circumstances, I ended up graduating from Oxford University early and decided that I wished to become a teacher and Dean Konoe has graciously granted me this esteemed position." At this Negi let out a small smile, while he technically didn't graduate from Oxford University, he did indeed pass their tests and was passed as a graduate of the school, the class just listened attentively to his introduction. "I also reading and if possible I would probably decide to live in a library forever. I also have a hobby in making and drinking various types of tea. As for things I may dislike, there really isn't anything except for people that give up easily. Now why don't you go next Akashi-san?"

"Eh? Me?... Uh... I'm Yuna Akashi, seat number 2... I guess I like my father? As for dislikes I don't have any at all!... Though I don't have any hobbies, I'm thinking of joining the basketball club this year!"

Negi nodded at this while making notes on his class roster. "I see, Thank you Akashi-san, now why don't you go next Asakura-san?"

So went the first day of class for Negi, mainly getting to know his class while also getting insight onto their diversities. Now he would need to construct a lesson plan that would be interesting to keep their attention. During the introductions he noticed that a majority had a short attention span for things that didn't seem to interest them. Especially Asuna Kagurazaka, he noticed that she spent a majority of the class in a daze and it took at least two calls for her to notice it was her turn to introduce herself.

Now he found himself sitting outside of the school on a bench going over the notes he had taken regarding his class. Going through the notes he had taken, he made a conclusion that the problem children of the class would be Kazumi Asakura, Asuna Kagurazaka, Fuka and Fumika Narutaki and Evangeline A.K. McDowell. Asakura because she expressed a way too keen interest on his circumstances for teaching at the school, Kagurazaka because she seemed to have some sort of grudge against him, the Narutaki twins because they seemed to be quite mischievous and McDowell because of her circumstances. While the first 4 problem students wouldn't be a problem as far as he was concerned, the problem lay with McDowell, since he had no clue how she would react. He knew of just what it was that was tying her to Mahora but he was unsure if she still had a grudge against Nagi or did it transfer over to him? Though judging from how hard she glared at him throughout the introductions he guessed that it was latter.

Sighing to himself he resigned to avoid McDowell until he could form a more solid opinion of her. For now, he would head to the faculty office grab the materials he would need and head home and plan his future lessons.

...

Picking up the tea pot from the living room table, Negi poured himself a cup of black tea, before slowing adding a small amount of milk into it. Once that was done, he took a sip and savored the taste that assaulted his taste buds. Sighing in relaxation, Negi looked towards the table again. On it was the material that he would be teaching to the class this year in order from easiest difficulty to hardest difficulty. Now he just needed to plan out how to make the classes themselves interesting instead of boring lectures that would cause people to sooner fall asleep then pay attention.

Staring at the materials, Negi drew up blanks on how to make the lessons interesting enough for middle school students with short attention spans. He could use extra points as incentive's, but that wouldn't really encourage them to learn, but focus more on the prize. Or he could switch to open debates between the class but he would have to find a way to get everyone to participate.

Creasing his brow, Negi wondered not for the first time if he was in over his head about his job. Taking another sip from his cup of tea, Negi glanced at the grandfather clock he had brought out. He had another 6 hours before he was due to patrol, so he guessed he would go to sleep for now. Picking up the tea set, he moved over to the sink and started cleaning it. Once that was done he started packing away the materials he would need tomorrow while carefully piling up the rest and placing it back on the table. He would ask Takamichi tonight for tips on teaching, maybe it would give him an idea of how he would better teach his students.

...

Arriving at the World Tree plaza, Negi waited for his shift to start. Though as he did, he noticed that there seemed to be a few presences already here. Some were focused on him while others were absorbed in there own things. Negi wondered though, was it really okay for people to be up at 4 AM exercising so early? Wouldn't that be bad for their health?

15 minutes before the clock struck 4, Takamichi showed up with a student in tow. Negi raised a brow at this but didn't say anything since it was one of his students and he had already been told that there would be student volunteers every now and then.

Once Takamichi was within range he called out. "Yo Takamichi! We going to have a helper tonight?"

Takamichi just smiled while the student - Setsuna Sakurazaki if he remembered correctly, seemed to be shocked at something.

"Indeed Negi-kun, this is Setsuna Sakurazaki from your class." Takamichi introduced.

Negi nodded. "Yea, I had the pleasure of being introduced to her in class yesterday."

"Ahh, I see..." Scratching the back of his head Takamichi awkwardly smiled.

"Well, since Sakurazaki-san has been kind enough to lend us a hand, we'll patrol our usual routes, Negi, will take the north west, I'll take the south west and I'll leave you to the south east like you asked Sakurazaki-san."

Both Negi and Setsuna nodded at this. "Well, lets get going shall we?"

With that Takamichi walked away towards his sector. Negi turned to Setsuna. "Well, Sakurazaki-san, I too shall head off, do make sure to arrive on time for class tomorrow, after all this it would be bad manners to miss the second day of class so soon." With that he turned his back to her and jumped off.

Setsuna remained behind with a stunned expression on her face. However that changed into a scowl soon enough. As she too prepared to head to her sector, she was intercepted by two people. Pausing, she asked, "How may I help you Tatsumiya-san, Nagase-san?"

"Ma, ma. Don't be so cold Setsuna, were we not comrade-in-arms last year? Why so cold all of a sudden anyway?" Kaede Nagase asked.

"Last year was merely because of various circumstances that forced my hand, we are purely on a professional level, nothing more, nothing less. Even Tatsumiya-san agrees." Setsuna countered.

Indeed, Mana Tatsumiya was nodding at what Setsuna was saying.

"Oh? So we're not friends? I feel hurt!" Kaede clutched her heart in mock despair.

Setsuna just ignored her and asked, "So what did you want Tatsumiya-san?"

"Hm... I was curious as to our new teacher, though I didn't glean much from him. Though will you be requiring my services like last year?" she asked.

Setsuna took a moment to think. "We shall see. Same rates?"

Mana nodded.

"By the way, I noticed that Negi-bozu seems to hold himself in a very relaxed manner. Like he never experienced combat. Will he be okay?" Kaede suddenly asked.

At this both Setsuna and Mana turned to Kaede.

"Hmph, seems like you're a horrible judge of character. Even though his body shows no sign of any sort training, he is from the west. Most likely, he relies on chanting his spells from a long-range." Mana explained.

"Really now?" Kaede asked skeptically. "I myself noticed that he seemed to not be used to moving around, so maybe you could be right, but who knows."

"Not enough evidence." Setsuna concluded. "Now if you will excuse me, I must be on my way."

With that Setsuna went off leaving Mana and Kaede at the plaza with some hard core early birds slowly trickling in to begin their morning exercises.

"Ah, Ah, we've been abandoned." Kaede let out.

Mana just walked off.

"Ah, wait up, Tatsumiya."

With that Kaede ran off after her.

...

Negi was bored. Even though he was patrolling, after 10 minutes of just moving around, he had grown bored of how dull this job seemed. At first he was quite excited especially after what happened before, but now, he found himself with nothing to do. Especially since the place he was patrolling was mainly the forest behind the World Tree close to his cottage, he expected there to be at least something that would cross his path, but it seemed that after the first night he had been here, things calmed down quite a bit.

Sighing again, Negi took out his pocketbook and started jotting down ideas again while keeping one eye on alert. Right now he had a solid base for how he would enchant the hell out of the Thompson he had ordered. Though he had to find a way to make it so that the harmonics of each enchantment wouldn't interfere with each other. It was in a way similar to a puzzle that needed to be assembled but was proving more difficult then he imagined.

As he moved, he noticed that someone was following him. Taking a glance in the general direction he was being observed from, Negi returned his attention back to his pocketbook before taking out his pocket watch. It seemed that there was still an hour left before he was done, so he guessed he could take a break for now, especially since his cottage was nearby.

Heading in the direction of it, he was relieved to feel that his observer was following him. As he did though, he frowned to himself. It seemed that he forgot to put up a bounded field for the area surrounding his cottage. That better be remedied quickly or else things might turn out badly if some demon or yokai stumbled on it.

Once he was at the front porch, he walked inside and grabbed his tea set and using a minor fire spell, he heated up the water and quickly made some black tea. Bringing out the tea set to the front porch, he took a seat and placed the set on the porch and busied himself with making some milk tea for himself.

Once that was done he turned his attention back in front of him. He waited for maybe 5 minutes hoping the observer would step out. However when the time elapsed, Negi sighed to himself. "Hey, Observer-san, would you like some tea?" While Negi knew he should've been more wary of the fact that he was being observed, common courtesy dictated that he should at least give the person a chance to explain himself.

When no response was forthcoming, Negi sighed again and started finishing his tea. It would seem that whoever was observing him didn't want to come out, so he would just return to the last hour of his shift. However as he was nearly done, he heard some rustling coming from the forest near the path. Negi kept his eye's on the source and when the person came into view Negi was surprised.

"You are... Karakuri Chachamaru-san? What are you doing here?"

"Ah... Negi-sensei, I was tasked with observing you as ordered by my master."

Negi frowned at the monotone way she spoke, but waved it off since she was after all a robot. Maybe she wasn't advanced enough to feel emotions?

"Your master?" Negi asked.

"Yes, my master."

"And he would be?"

"Ah. She's right behind you Negi-sensei."

At that, Negi felt a presence materialize right next to him and he felt something sharp pointed at his neck.

"Ara?"

Glancing at the person that currently had some sort of weapon at his neck he wasn't really surprised by who he saw.

"Ah... McDowell-san... I admit, I wasn't expecting you to come greet me so soon. Though considering your circumstances, I guess it's to be expected."

"Oh? So you know what I'm here for, brat?"

Negi nodded using a minuscule amount of movement. He was after all in a rather dangerous situation. "Of course, though I'm afraid to say that what you have in mind will probably not work."

As he said that he felt whatever was at his neck dig deeper, though it wasn't enough to draw blood, glancing down, he saw that it was a hand with large nails poised to stab into his neck.

"Hm... so tell me, just what did you expect me to do to you if you already think it's going to fail?"

"... I have no solid proof, but I can surmise that you think that the curse that's keeping you locked up in this place is tied on to his blood. However, since he's missing, you can't really hope that he'll just show up suddenly to release you. Hence the next best decision would be to get the blood of someone who is close to him, specifically the blood of his son. Am I right?"

"..." No answer was forthcoming, so Negi continued.

"Normally such a decision would be correct, however the seal "Infernus Scholasticus" is exactly as its name implies no?" Negi stated wryly.

"What's your point?" Jabbing just a bit more to get her point across Evangeline waited impatiently.

"My point is that since the seal is tied to a school, does it not mean that the easiest way to have the curse lifted is to just simply enjoy the school life? After all it is "School Hell" as the seal implies. If you tie in the fact that my father supposedly never graduated from Magic School, he would find it to be a hell. Hence I theorize that the seal holding you here is tied to how you feel regarding this place and not to the blood of the person who sealed you."

If he was expecting the hand that was poised to kill him be removed, he was disappointed when it dig just a bit deeper.

"Hmph, that's an interesting theory for a brat, but from how I see it, it's just a way for you to save your own skin in the face of death."

Negi raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't say anything.

"Now how about you hear my theory?"

Again Negi raised an eyebrow. "You're being surprisingly civil considering who I am, I would've expected you to attack first then talk later."

"Watch it brat, don't overstep your boundaries."

At this Negi just shrugged his shoulders like it didn't matter.

"Now, my theory is that this accursed seal, is tied this land, and since you can't really extract blood from the land it would be impossible to remove it. However any competent mage would leave themselves a backdoor for these kind of things. No doubt your father was one of them and has it tied onto his blood. Since he's no longer around, the next best bet would be you."

Negi who had listened patiently couldn't help but sweat drop. The way Evangeline was speaking was as if his father had actually thought that far ahead. By all accounts he could, but Negi sincerely doubted it. From what he knew of his father, he was more of a man who did what he wanted and didn't care about the consequences it brought. So it was with increasingly disbelief that Negi listened to Evangeline's theory.

"So what do you think brat?"

"..."

"Hah! Speechless huh? Couldn't find a rebuttal?"

"Uh... no? I'm thinking you give my father too much credit is all."

Evangeline jabbed at his neck again as if telling him to explain.

"Er... from what I know of my father, he was more of a person who would do what he wanted without planning ahead. I've heard stories from people saying how he would be the only idiot dumb enough to engage divine warriors from Mundus Magicus in melee combat with nothing but his own fists. So hearing a theory of him somehow planning all of this in advance is kind of hard to believe."

"Your point brat? Those are just stories, they could just be rumors is all."

"Than your theory regarding the forward planning of my father could also be a rumor since I grew up under different concepts regarding my father, which would make your theory plain paranoia."

"Rumor? You think my theory is a rumor?!" Negi felt a great amount of anger directed at him, but felt no power behind it. It seemed that the seal holding Eva back was still functioning. Though that didn't explain how she managed to get behind him without him noticing. "I'll have you know brat that my theory is based off of all the information I have regarding the seal holding me back and you who came out of nowhere with just the basics of what's holding me back have the nerve to think my theory is constructed from rumors?!" As she spoke, her voice was quickly changing from calm to borderline hysterical.

Negi was starting to wonder if he had spoken to much. He had heard that she had a sort of hero worship to his father, but he didn't think that speaking about his father like that would evoke such a response.

"Er... I'm sorry for speaking out of line?"

At this, Evangeline seemed to remember that he was still at her mercy and it showed when she jabbed her nails into his neck. Enough to draw blood, but wouldn't kill him.

She just glared at him.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...So... what's going to happen now...?" Negi asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"I'll kill you and drain all the blood from your body and then I''ll be free from this seal!"

"... and you haven't done so already why?"

"Bwah?" Evangeline blanched.

Negi just nodded. "Indeed, if that was what you wanted, I would already be dead when you first appeared behind me and even then you've had more then enough time to end it anytime. Yet you took the time to listen and respond to my input. So why have you not already ended it if that's all you want?"

Evangeline tried talking. She really did, but she could do was open and close her mouth repeatedly. Eventually she settled for just glaring at him.

Negi who waited patiently for an answer received none. Taking out his pocket watch, he noticed that he still had half an hour left to patrol. Meaning he had been at home for half an hour already. Reaching with a hand towards the hand digging into his neck, he took hold of it and pulled it away. As he did the blood from the wound slowly started dripping down his neck. Quickly muttering a _Cura_ spell, the wound was healed and he moved back into his cottage. Placing the tea set back on the table, he quickly set about putting the required stuff for today's lessons into a messenger bag and placed it on the couch.

Exiting his cottage, he saw that Evangeline was still where he had left her. Locking up the door, he proceeded past her and started heading back out to patrol.

As he slowly started walking off Evangeline regained her senses from what ever it was doing.

"You! Where do you think you're going!"

Negi turned his head back. "Well you see, I should've been patrolling but I ended up skipping for half an hour and I still have another half hour to go. So I decided I needed to get back to work." With that Negi resumed walking but then he paused and turned back around. "Oh yes! I thank you for coming to me with your problems McDowell-san, as your teacher I'm thankful that you would come to me so early with an issue you have. It makes me happy that after only a day you trust me enough to ask for help regarding the issues plaguing you. Sadly I must cut this meeting short. However if you still wish to discuss this, please find me after class in the faculty office and if not, then please find me at my home before curfew. Now you best be off, school starts in almost 2 hours and I expect both of you to be in class." Negi once more resumed walking, leaving a flabbergasted vampire and a stoic robot behind.

"..."

"..."

"Master... are you okay? You seem to be gaping like a fish." Eventually Chachamaru who had been silent throughout the entire encounter spoke up.

"Gah!"

"Are you alright Master? You seem unusually flustered." Chachamaru asked in her usual monotone.

"Grrr... It's nothing! Let's go Chachamaru, our targets escaped by now anyway."

"But Master, Negi-sensei just walked away just now."

"Gah! I said he escaped okay! He escaped! Now let's head home!"

"Ah... does this mean Master is taking Negi-sensei's warning of going to school instead of staying at home like before?"

"AHHH! YOU'RE BEING SO ANNOYING RIGHT NOW CHACHAMARU!"

"Sorry Master."

Evangeline huffed. "Forget it. Let's just get going."

"Hai."

Evangeline took one last look at the cottage before leaving with Chachamaru in tow.

...

Negi had walked for maybe 10 minutes before he collapsed onto a nearby tree. Leaning against it, rapidly exhaled and inhaled the breath that he had been holding in throughout the entire encounter. While he knew Evangeline was sealed, she was still someone who's legend was used as bed time stories to scare kids into not doing anything bad. Even Negi had grown up listening to such things and to think he had talked to her like that was scary. Luckily, it seemed that she didn't catch the fact that he was on the brink of a mental breakdown during the conversation. If Chamo was here, Negi was sure he would've made some comment about him using his bluffing skills to make some quick cash in a casino or something of the like.

Catching his breath, Negi once more resumed his patrol which was a great way of relaxing especially what he just went through.

When he reached the World Tree plaza once more, he watched the clock strike 6 AM which officially marked the end of his patrol. Letting out a breath, he sat down on one of the benches and closed his eyes for a bit of rest. Leaning backwards he listened to the early-bird martial artists practicing their morning exercises with great vigor if their spirited shouts were anything to go by.

After 10 minutes, Negi started heading back to his cottage, he had another hour and thirty minutes before classes were due to start. If he jogged their, he would have some time to have some tea before he was due to be at school which was exactly what Negi wanted.

...

Arriving at school with 15 minutes to spare, Negi headed to the faculty office to drop off the stuff he wouldn't need for class today while also grabbing his class roster. While he remembered most of the names of his class already, some still eluded him due to the fact that they seemed naturally inclined to fade into the background when they weren't focused on.

Walking in to the classroom, he quickly called for attention.

"Okay class, it's time to start homeroom. So let's get roll call over with and begin our wonderful second day of school now shall we?" Smiling brightly as Negi said this, he was met by a chorus of groans from the class.

"Now now, I know it's only the second day but that doesn't mean you can be lazy. It's best to start early. In fact if we finish our lesson early, you'll have the rest of the time to yourselves. Is that fine?"

This time he was met with a chorus of whoops of joy. Shaking his head at the classes antics Negi shook his head.

"Now let's get started.", It seemed like he was worried over nothing about how to teach the class.

...

Face planting his desk in the faculty office, Negi let out a tired groan. It seemed that class 2-A had more problem children than he had first thought. At least one third of the class didn't seem to understand the lesson he was giving despite it being a review of what they learned last year. Especially considering one of his students couldn't even speak full Japanese. It looked like he would have to plan for afternoon tutoring sessions after school for the select students that Negi definitely knew would need help or else they would be in trouble during the exam period.

"Ah Negi-sensei. Had a hard day?" Turning his head towards the source Negi saw that it was Akashi-sensei.

"Ah... Akashi-sensei... It seems that teaching is a lot harder than I thought."

"Hm... that's expected. After all everyone has a different learning curve and as teachers, it's our duty to go at a pace that will allow the students to learn at their own pace."

"So I should try and find a comfortable speed at which everyone can learn?"

"Yes. That would be ideal, but that would be impossible since the people who learn quicker might wish to continue on ahead while those who are behind would end up falling more behind."

"In the end there is no easy solution, guess I'll ask the dean for a schedule for when I can host after school tutoring."

"Ah, there is that. Though it only comes around when the exam period is near. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a student that would willingly stay after school for extra lessons."

"I guess that's true, I heard that school is considered a hell for students, though I just can't see it."

"Haha, it's to be expected. You did graduate early so you probably see it differently from your students who has been in school a lot longer than you have."

As both the teachers traded their points of view regarding students, they were interrupted by a shout.

"Yo! Negi-sensei!" Turning towards the source of the call, Negi saw that it was Paru, Yue and Nodoka who was waiting at the faculty office door.

"Ah! Saotome-san!" Excusing himself, he got up and headed towards his students. "Is there anything I can do for you Saotome-san, Ayase-san, Miyazaki-san?"

"Hey! Didn't I say that I prefer being called Paru instead of Saotome?"

Negi frowned at this. "Ah. I'm sorry Saotome-san, but as a teacher I can't really speak to my students informally until I'm off duty."

"Tsk."

"Anyway. Was there something you needed?"

"Ah yes! That! Well Negi-sensei. Remember when you asked we would be heading out to further explore library island?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, this weekend will be our first club meeting. Think you have time to come and observe?"

"This weekend...?" Negi thought of what he had planned this weekend. He had originally planned on starting the enchantment process of his Thompson which was due to arrive any day now, but other then that he really didn't have anything planned.

"Okay, I'll be there this weekend. Where's the meeting location?"

"It'll be at the entrance of library island of course. Just wait at the edge of the bridge."

"I see..." turning to Yue and Nodoka, Negi asked, "Will Ayase-san and Miyazaki-san be there as well?"

Both of them who had been silent throughout the encounter jumped when Negi addressed them. Well Nodoka hid behind Yue while Yue just twitched.

It was Paru who answered. "Of course! We're not called the Library Trio for nothing!"

Negi had no idea how to react to such a title so he just settled for nodding.

"Well, that's all we wanted to talk about Negi-sensei. Later!" With that Paru herded both Yue and Nodoka down the hall and disappeared.

Negi just returned to his seat where Akashi-sensei was waiting patiently.

"Well it seems that you're fitting right in, huh Negi-sensei?"

Negi looked up at this."Really? You think so?"

Akashi nodded. "Of course, as teachers, we're required to interact with students on a regular basis to help establish a bond of trust between us. That way if they have problems they want to talk about, they can seek you out if they don't feel comfortable talking about it to someone else."

"Ah... I guess that's true." It reminded him of what he had said to Evangeline this morning.

"So the basis is trust huh." Negi whispered to himself.

"Hm? Is something wrong Negi-sensei?"

"Ah? Me? No no, just thinking about what you said is all."

Akashi nodded at this. "Well don't think too hard about it or else you could lose sight of what you originally wanted."

"Hai! Thank you for the advice Akashi-sensei!"

"Ha ha, like I said don't worry about it. It's a fellow teachers duty to teach their peers after all."

...

Walking up the path towards hi cottage, Negi let out a breath of relief. The second day of school had ended with nothing overly crazy happening like Takamichi had warned about the class but teaching them when he wasn't sure if they could keep up sure was restricting.

Seeing his cottage a bit farther off, he sped up, desperate for some relaxing tea time before he would start planning tomorrows lesson. Than it was off to some few hours of rest and patrol duty.

As he got closer to home though, he noticed that the lines in his home was on. Frowning to himself, he wondered if he had forgotten to turn them off before, but shook that off. He was 100% sure he had turned off everything. That meant that someone had broke into his home which was unlikely considering people rarely came here. But then he thought that it would make a perfect place to rob since not a lot of people came. However since the lights were on, it meant someone had entered without permission from him.

Walking to the front door, he opened it and headed towards the living room. When he looked inside, he was surprised at who he saw.

"..."

"... I'm surprised, McDowell-san. I didn't expect you to be here when I came back."

"Hmph, You were the one who cut our last meeting short. You even said that you would be here ready to listen at any time." Puffing up her cheeks like a kid, Negi couldn't help but compare it to the attitude she had last night.

Shaking his head he turned to Evangeline's companion. "Hello Karakuri-san, I apologize for not greeting you earlier."

"Ah... it's okay Negi-sensei and sorry for entering, but Master insisted."

Shaking his head again, but this time at the monotone way she spoke he said, "No it's fine, I did after all say I would listen to her anytime whether its here or at school."

Turning to face Evangeline Negi asked, "Well? What can I do for you tonight McDowell-san?"

"Hmph, you can start by getting rid of that poor transformation you have on."

"Ah... haha... it seems I can't hide it from you." Saying, that he assumed his teen form.

Evangeline looked on as Negi turned back into a teen. "Hmph. Like father like son I guess."

"Haha... so I've been told by some." Scratching the back of his head Negi asked, "Well? What did you want besides seeing me like this? I'll admit that I was expecting you to use violence like before, but this is welcome as well."

"Don't get used to it brat, the only reason I'm being civil right now is because of my good will, the moment you cause me to lose it, expect to die."

"Wha-! You can't threaten your teacher like that McDowell-san!"

"What!? Is that all you can say when I'm threatening to kill you?!"

"As a teacher, my duties to a student comes first before the duties to myself." Negi said with a straight face. Frowning at what he just said, he added," Well...except when I'm off duty. Then I prioritize my duties over a teachers."

"... I can't help but wonder whether you are bipolar or not." Evangeline said with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Huh? What do you mean by that...?" Negi was confused at this. Evangeline thought he was bipolar? Why would she think that.

"You mean you haven't noticed how you seem to switch between moods so suddenly?" Evangeline deadpanned.

"Ehh? Isn't that normal?"

"Yea. It is. If you're a crazy bastard that is."

Negi sighed to himself. "McDowell-san, I have to say that if you came here to just make fun of me, I'll ask that you please stop."

"Whatever, I was getting off track anyway." Her face suddenly turned serious. "What information do you have on the whereabouts of Nagi Springfield."

Negi raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't answer. Instead he got up and headed into the kitchen and started boiling the water while preparing his tea set. Once that was ready, he brought it back into the living room. Pouring himself and his guests some tea, he patiently added milk to his and took a sip. Closing his eye's he savored the taste and the calming effect it brought him.

While Negi was doing this, Evangeline waited patiently. She had noticed the brats demeanor change once she had stated what she wanted. When he poured out three cups of tea, she took one while giving Chachamaru a glance who followed suit.

When Negi's eye's opened again, they were clear with resolve. "What exactly do you mean by that McDowell-san?"

Evangeline who was sipping her tea, noticed a weird undertone in the way he spoke but couldn't pinpoint what. Placing her cup of tea on the table, she looked at Negi. "I mean exactly what I mean. This morning I noticed how you said "_from what I know_" when we "talked", this implies that you met Nagi before and the rumors of him being dead are just that. Rumors."

Negi stayed silent and took another sip. "... I admit McDowell-san, I was not expecting you to notice that, but I guess it's to be expected that nothing slips by your notice."

Evangeline blushed at this but hid it well.

"However I will have to say that I have no information about the whereabouts of my father, but I can confirm for you that he is indeed alive."

Hearing this, Evangeline had a hopeful look on her face before it quickly disappeared. "How do you know this exactly? For all you know, it could've been an impostor There are after all a lot of people who try and imitate the Thousand Master after all."

"I know because I met him 6 years ago on _that_ night, he even left me this." As Negi said that, the staff that he had inherited from his father popped out of storage and floated in front of him.

Evangeline upon seeing the staff couldn't help but freeze. Of course she knew the staff in front of her, even though it could be a fake, she knew it was not, because she had seen the idiot using it enough times to know it was the exact same one. Shaking her head she turned to Negi. "While that's nice that was 6 years ago, how do you know he's alive even now?"

Negi closed his eye's again and stayed silent. Eventually he opened them again and asked, "Are you familiar with the Pactio's between a Magister Magi and a Minister Magi?"

"Of course! Who do you think I am? And what does that have to do with anything?"

Instead of answering, his Pactio card popped out his ring. Deftly catching from its floating state, he flipped it so that the back of the card was showing on the table, sliding it forward towards Evangeline, she glanced at the back of the card. Her eye's widened once she saw the name on it. Snatching the card off the table, she flipped it around and stared at it intently.

Eventually Negi broke the silence. "Is that enough proof for you McDowell-san?"

Evangeline eventually looked at Negi. "Hmph. It's more than enough proof, but don't think this means anything."

Tossing the card back at Negi, he sealed it back into his ring. "I'll have to ask that you not disclose what you just saw to anybody as of yet McDowell-san."

"Hmph. Why not? Shouldn't you be happy to show it off?"

"Over reliance on such a thing can lead to one's downfall McDowell-san. You of all people should know that."

"Guh! T-that's not true! He caught me off guard was all!" Evangeline was flustered at what Negi had said.

"Either way, please don't disclose what you just saw to anybody without my permission." This time Negi stared straight into Evangeline's eye's.

Evangeline stared straight back, but eventually broke it off. "F-fine. Why hide it anyway."

"A trump card for just in case scenarios." Negi answered.

"Paranoid much?"

"I blame reflex from all the unexpected I encountered."

Negi took a glance at the grandfather clock in the corner. "Hm... Almost 7 huh..." Putting his tea cup back on the table, he asked Evangeline, "Will you be staying for dinner McDowell-san?"

Evangeline who had been drinking her tea took a glance at the clock as well and said, "No, we'll be leaving soon anyway since I got what I wanted."

"I see... Well take care on your way home, it's pretty dangerous at night you know."

Evangeline snorted at this. "Please brat, did you forget who I am?"

Negi smiled good-naturedly "Ah, but there's nothing wrong with being careful now is there."

"Tch. Whatever."

"Well, please excuse me, but I best be off to prepare dinner."

Stepping out, Negi headed towards the kitchen.

Evangeline and Chachamaru who had been silent as ever were left in the room. Eventually Evangeline spoke up. "Chachamaru. We're leaving."

"Hai. Master."

Negi heard footsteps walking by. Sticking his head into the hallway he called out. "Good night McDowell-san, Karakuri-san. I'll see you in class tomorrow and drop by any time you want to."

Evangeline just ignored him while Chachamaru bid goodbye to him.

Once they were gone, Negi got back to work on making his dinner. While hopping tonight's patrol duty wouldn't be dull.

...

"Master. Should we not have told Negi-sensei that he doesn't really need to patrol every night and that he only needed set up a bounded field around the area to send him alerts of disturbances?" Chachamaru asked as they left the cottage.

"Hmph, don't think too much about it Chachamaru. Let's see how long that it takes that brat to think up of instead of walking all over the place like an idiot."

"I see."

"Well I guess what they say is true. Like father like son. Both are idiots when it comes to certain things."

"Ah. Master is speaking quite happily. Is Master happy that Negi-sensei's father is alive?"

"W-what are you saying?"

"Ah. Was I wrong master? Or are you happy that Negi-sensei said you can visit him anytime?"

"AHHHH! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU ALL OF A SUDDEN CHACHAMARU!"

As Evangeline raged, Chachamaru couldn't help but wonder why. She was just telling Master what she thought.

* * *

**AN: Originally I was going to add more perspective regarding Negi's interaction between his students but then that would make the chapter exceedingly long so I decided that I'll just think it up as I go. Sorry if this chapter is confusing as well. I wrote it up in between the breaks I had from studying.**

**Anyway. In this chapter it was mostly interaction between Negi and Eva, but I plan to make it so that Negi interacts with the rest of his class in the next few chapters. Since there is at least another 4 months before official canon time, by the time it rolls around, changes will be very noticeable.**


End file.
